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THE  ETHICS  OF  JESUS 

BEING   THE 

WILLIAM  BELDEN  NOBLE  LECTURES 
FOR  1909 


BY 


HENRY  CHURCHILL  KING,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

V 

PRESIDENT  OF  OBERLIN   COLLEGE 


^    OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


THE   MACMILLAN    COMPANY 
1910 

All  rights  reserved 


3s  :2V/7 


tA^'> 


Copyright,  1910, 
By  the  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  February,  1910. 


Nortnoofi  i^tess 

J.  8.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

The  aim  of  this  book  and  the  writer's  concep- 
tion of  its  task  are  pretty  fully  set  forth  in  the 
introductory  chapter;  and  that  discussion  should 
not  be  repeated  here.  It  need  only  be  said  that 
the  method  of  approach  adopted  involves  a  rather 
detailed  survey  of  all  the  passages  in  the  teaching 
of  Jesus  that  can  be  regarded  as  clearly  ethical, 
and  should  itself  help  to  make  more  objective  the 
results  of  the  inquiry  as  well  as  more  completely 
insure  that  the  teaching  itself  should  be  unfolded, 
rather  than  simply  talked  about. 

While  I  have  tried  to  keep  constantly  in  mind 
the  ethical  aspect  of  the  teaching,  as  the  one  prob- 
lem of  this  book,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that 
Jesus'  teaching  is  so  completely  permeated  with 
the  religious  spirit,  that  it  is  impossible  wholly  to 
ignore  the  rehgious  and  still  do  justice  to  the 
ethical  teaching.  Jesus  has  no  dual  standpoint, 
corresponding  to  a  sharp  separation  of  the  two 
realms  of  the  religious  and  the  ethical. 

As  one  in  a  series  of  New  Testament  Hand- 
books this  volume  is,  of  course,  intended  to  reward 
study  but  it  is  most  earnestly  hoped  that  that 
intention  has  not  meant  that  the  priceless  vitality 
of  the  ethical  teaching  of  Jesus  has  escaped  in  the 


196302 


VI  PREFACE 

process.  A  book  on  the  ethics  of  Jesus  that  is 
not  vital  through  and  through  beHes  its  theme. 
I  can  but  hope,  therefore,  that  the  book  may  help 
a  little  to  bring  the  unity,  the  sweep,  the  depth, 
and  the  inspiration  of  the  ethical  teaching  of 
Jesus  to  many  readers  who  do  not  think  of  them- 
selves at  all  as  professional  students.  Jesus  was 
interested  in  life  rather  than  in  technical  discus- 
sions about  life. 

HENRY  CHURCHILL  KING. 
Oberlin  College, 
September,  1909, 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface v 

CHAPTER  I 

NTRODUCTION I 

Jesus'  teaching  its  own  best  witness  —  Extent  of  lit- 
erature —  Aim  of  the  book  —  Light  upon  the  personality 
of  Jesus  —  Fresh  historical  interpretation  —  Psychological 
interpretation  —  Unfolding  the  teaching  —  Criticism  of 
the  ethics  of  Jesus  —  Application  of  the  teaching  —  The 
entire  teaching  as  a  background — The  method  of  a 
composite  photograph  —  Critical  position — Trustworthi- 
ness of  the  ethical  teaching  as  given  in  the  Synoptic  Gos- 
pels —  Schmiedel's  "  foundation-pillars  "  —  Burkitt's 
"  doubly  attested  sayings  "  —  Limitation  of  theme  — 
Jesus  never  separates  religion  and  ethics  —  Summary  of 
the  entire  teaching  of  Jesus  as  given  in  Luke  —  Amount 
and  permanence  of  the  ethical  teaching  —  Emphasis  on 
honesty  —  Emphasis  on  love  —  Trends  in  the  entire 
teaching. 

CHAPTER  II 

The  Ethical  Teaching  in  Schmiedel's  Foundation- 
pillar  Passages,  and  in  the  Doubly  Ati'ested 
Sayings.    Criteria 33 

Schmiedel's  foundation- pillars  —  Classification  of  pas- 
sages —  Discussion  of  passages  —  Passages  bearing  on 
Jesus'  character  as  a  whole  —  Passages  bearing  on  Jesus' 
character  as  a  miracle  worker  —  Passages  showing  in 
what  Jesus'  greatness  consists  —  Schmiedel's  inferences 
—  Our  own  inferences  —  The  inferences  logically  ar- 
ranged —  Conclusion. 

The  "doubly  attested  sayings  "  —  Selection  of  the  ethi- 
vii 


VIU  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

cal  passages  in  the  doubly  attested  sayings— The  funda- 
mental laws  of  life  involved  —  Discussion  of  the  passages 
—  Summary  of  inferences  —  Logical  grouping  of  infer- 
ences—  The  moral  end — Faith  in  the  triumph  of  the 
good  —  Love  the  sum  of  life  —  Moral  evidence  —  Fidelity 
to  the  inner  light  —  Moral  means  for  the  inner  life  of  the 
man  himself — Unity,  integrity,  and  inwardness  of  life  — 
Earnestness  and  watchfulness  —  The  laws  of  habit  and 
efficiency  —  The  unity  of  the  life  in  love  —  In  relation  to 
others  —  The  laws  of  the  contagion  of  the  good  —  Of 
sacrifice  —  Of  self-giving  love  —  Of  reverence  for  the 
person  —  Of  priority  by  service  —  Of  the  sharing  of  all 
goods  —  The  unity  of  the  whole  moral  conception  of 
Jesus  —  Conclusion. 

CHAPTER  III 

The  Ethical  Teaching  in  Mark  and  in  the  Other 
Common    Source    of    Matthew    and    Luke.     The 

Oldest  Sources 87 

The  ethical  teaching  in  Q  —  Selection  of  passages  — 
The  temptation  repHes  —  Three  ethical  emphases  —  The 
contrast  with  the  Pharisaic  spirit  —  The  necessity  of  sym- 
pathetic and  tender  forgiveness  —  The  sense  of  the  seri- 
ousness of  life  —  The  reason  for  Jesus'  position  as  to  the 
Pharisees  —  Conclusion  on  Q. 

The  ethical  teaching  in  Mark  —  Outline  of  the  entire 
teaching  in  Mark  —  Selection  of  the  ethical  passages  to 
be  discussed  —  Mark's  ethical  notes — Jesus'  message, 
method,  motive,  goal,  and  the  revolutionary  contrast  in 
his  teaching  —  The  great  paradox  —  The  great  command- 
ment—  The  demand  for  the  childlike  qualities  —  Social 
applications  of  his  teaching  —  Mark's  parables — Sum- 
mary of  the  ethical  teaching  in  Mark. 

CHAPTER  IV 

Estimate  of  the  Ethical  Teaching  in  the  Sayings  of 

Jesus  Peculiar  to  either  Matthew  or  Luke  .        .     145 
The  ethical  teaching  peculiar  to  Matthew  —  Summary 


CONTENTS  IX 

PAGE 

of  ethical  passages  selected  —  Matthew  shows  both  the 
notes  of  warning  and  judgment,  and  the  notes  of  mercy, 
humility,  and  forgiveness  —  Comparison  of  the  ethical 
inferences  from  the  ethical  teaching  peculiar  to  Matthew, 
with  the  laws  of  life  derived  from  the  doubly  attested 
sayings  —  Summary  of  the  teaching  peculiar  to  Matthew. 
The  peculiar  teaching  in  Luke  —  Amount  and  credi- 
bility of  this  peculiar  material  —  Summary  of  ethical 
passages  chosen  —  The  discussion  of  Luke's  peculiar 
material  in  two  divisions  —  Consideration  of  the  parables 
of  grace  with  their  related  sayings — Consideration  of 
the  parables  of  warning  and  the  sayings  akin  to  these  — 
Parables  of  grace —  Parable  of  the  two  debtors  —  Of  the 
Good  Samaritan  —  Of  the  lost  coin  —  Of  the  lost  son  — 
The  aspect  of  judgment  and  warning  —  Parables  of  the 
rich  fool  —  Of  the  watchful  servants  —  Of  the  barren  fig 
tree  —  Of  the  chief  seats  —  Of  the  Pharisee  and  the  pub- 
lican —  Of  the  rash  builder  and  the  rash  king  —  Of  extra 
service  —  Of  the  unrighteous  steward  —  Summary  on  the 
parables  of  grace  —  Summary  on  the  parables  of  warning 
—  Comparison  with  doubly  attested  sayings  —  Conclu- 
sion. 

CHAPTER  V 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  as  a  Whole        .        .        .191 

Genuineness  of  the  teaching  here  —  Outlines  of  the 

entire  Sermon  —  The  originality  of  Jesus  —  The  elements 

in  that  originality  —  The  spiritual  discoveries  of  Jesus  in 

the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  summarized. 

CHAPTER  VI 


Jesus'  Conception  of  the  Basic  Qualities  of  Life: 
Study  of  the  Beatitudes 


The  basic  qualities  for  character,  happiness,  and  influ- 
ence set  forth  in  the  Beatitudes  —  Qualities  of  character 
involved  —  Teachable  —  Penitent  —  Self-controlled  — 
Genuinely  earnest  in  pursuit  of  the  highest  —  Sympathetic 
with  men  —  Reverent  toward  men  —  Promoting  love 


204 


X  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

among  men — Sacrificing  for  men — The  Beatitudes  as 
a  progress  —  The  basic  qualities  of  happiness  —  The 
Beatitudes  a  reversal  of  the  world's  code  —  Their  quali- 
ties as  to  the  supreme  conditions  of  happiness  —  The 
qualities  of  the  Beatitudes  as  the  natural  conditions  for  . 
influence  —  Summary. 

CHAPTER  VII 

The  Great  Motives  to  Living  in  the  Sermon  on  the 

Mount 232 

The  ultimate  problem  —  Four  great  motives  used  by 
Jesus  in  the  Sermon  —  The  unity  of  the  inner  life  —  The 
inner  fulfillment  of  the  law  —  The  motive  of  God  as  Father 

—  The  motive  of  men  as  brothers  —  The  motives  in  the 
divisions  of  the  Sermon — Jesus'  putting  of  the  principle 
of  the  unity  of  the  inner  life  —  Jesus'  use  of  the  motive 
of  men  as  brothers  —  Jesus'  use  of  the  motive  of  God  as 
Father  —  The  unity  of  the  four  motives  in  the  thought 
of  God  as  Father  —  Summary  of  the  great  motives  to  hv- 
ing  as  seen  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  —  Jesus'  use  of 
the  four  great  motives  as  against  impurity,  falsity,  and 
retaliation. 

CHAPTER  VIII 

Conclusion 267 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  itself  a  summary  of  Jesus' 
teaching —  Evidenced  in  the  preceding  tliscussion —  Con- 
tains the  ethical  notes  and  laws  of  Schmiedel's  passages 
and  of  the  doubly  attested  sayings  —  In  harmony  with 
Q  and  Mark  —  And  with  the  peculiar  teaching  in  Matthew 
and  Luke  —  A  thoroughgoing  unity  in  his  teaching  — 
Seen  in  the  inevitable  inferences  from  the  thought  of 
God  as  Father — Has  Jesus  an  ethical  system? — His 
conception  of  the  highest  good  —  His  conception  of  duty 

—  His  assumption  of  conscience  and  of  freedom  —  Con- 
clusion. 

Bibliography 277 

Index  of  Subjects       .        .        .  ' 281 

Index  of  Scripture  Texts 289 


THE  WILLIAM  BELDEN  NOBLE 
LECTURES 

This  Lectureship  was  constituted  a  perpetual 
foundation  in  Harvard  University  in  1898,  as  a 
memorial  to  the  late  William  Belden  Noble  of 
Washington,  D.C.  (Harvard,  1885).  The  deed  of 
gift  provides  that  the  lectures  shall  be  not  less 
than  six  in  number,  that  they  shall  be  delivered 
annually,  and,  if  convenient,  in  the  Phillips  Brooks 
House,  during  the  season  of  Advent.  Each  lec- 
turer shall  have  ample  notice  of  his  appointment, 
and  the  publication  of  each  course  of  lectures  is 
required.  The  purpose  of  the  Lectureship  will 
be  further  seen  in  the  following  citation  from  the 
deed  of  gift  by  which  it  was  established :  — 

"  The  object  of  the  founder  of  the  Lectures  is  to  continue 
the  mission  of  William  Belden  Noble,  whose  supreme  desire 
it  was  to  extend  the  influence  of  Jesus  as  the  way,  the  truth, 
and  the  life;  to  make  known  the  meaning  of  the  words  of 
Jesus,  '  I  am  come  that  they  might  have  life,  and  that  they 
might  have  it  more  abundantly.'  In  accordance  with  the 
large  interpretation  of  the  Influence  of  Jesus  by  the  late 
Phillips  Brooks,  with  whose  religious  teaching  he  in  whose 
memory  the  Lectures  are  established  and  also  the  founder 
of  the  Lectures  were  in.  deep  sympathy,  it  is  intended  that 
the  scope  of  the  Lectures  shall  be  as  wide  as  the  highest  in- 
terests of  humanity.  With  this  end  in  view,  —  the  perfection 
of  the  spiritual  man  and  the  consecration  by  the  spirit  of 


Xll        THE   WILLIAM    BELDEN    NOBLE    LECTURES 

Jesus  of  every  department  of  human  character,  thought,  and 
activity,  —  the  Lectures  may  include  philosophy,  literature, 
art,  poetry,  the  natural  sciences,  political  economy,  sociology, 
ethics,  history  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  as  well  as  theology 
and  the  more  direct  interests  of  the  religious  life.  Beyond 
a  sympathy  with  the  purpose  of  the  Lectures,  as  thus  defined, 
no  restriction  is  placed  upon  the  lecturer." 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


THE  WILLIAM  BELDEN  NOBLE  LECTURES 
FOR    1909 


THE    ETHICS   OF   JESUS 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION 

One  feels  inevitably  the  hopelessness  of  trying  Jesus'  teach- 
to  add  to  the  value  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus  by  b^ft^^^itness. 
further  comment  upon  them.  The  comment  seems 
so  often  only  to  dilute  and  weaken  the  teaching 
rather  than  to  strengthen  its  hold  upon  the  mind. 
To  any  man  able  to  enter  in  even  small  degree 
into  the  reality  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  that 
teaching  must  always  seem  its  own  best  witness. 
It  is  possible  to  go  over  many  books  on  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus,  excellently  done  though  they  seem, 
and  yet  feel  curiously  unrewarded,  when  the  out- 
come is  compared  with  the  results  of  one's  own 
first-hand  study  of  the  words  of  Jesus  themselves. 

It  is  impossible,  too,  to  ignore  the  fact  that  the  Extent  of 
literature  upon  every  aspect  of  the  life  and  teach-  ^^^^^^t^^- 
ing  of  Jesus  has  immensely  increased  in  recent 
years;  and  that,  with  the  growth  of  the  depart- 
ment of  biblical  theology,  the  last  years  have  seen 
such  attention  to  the  teaching  of  Jesus  as  has 
never  been  witnessed  before.  In  the  light  of  all 
this  literature,  one  can  well  appreciate  Burkitt's 
remark,    ''that    the    only   time    when    Christians 

B  I 


2  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

would  have  cause  to  be  afraid  was  when  the  far- 
off  figure  of  Jesus  no  longer  attracted  the  critic 
and  the  student ;  but  that  there  was  no  evidence 
that  that  day  was  within  sight."  ^  And  yet,  at  the 
same  time,  one  can  hardly  be  blamed  for  asking 
himself,  somewhat  despairingly.  Is  there  any  ex- 
cuse for  adding  another  book  to  this  list  ?  What 
can  our  discussion  do  ? 
Light  upon  First  of  all,  it  may  be  said  that  it  is  possible  for 
ity  oUe'sus!"  ^^  ^^  throw  some  light  (quite  incidentally,  for  this 
is  in  no  sense  a  volume  of  apologetics)  upon  ques- 
tions of  historicity  and  credibihty ;  and  it  is  not  a 
small  matter  that  the  world  should  not  lose  the 
conviction  of  the  reality  of  any  great  personality, 
most  of  all  that  of  Jesus.  Now  it  is  not  only  true 
that  general  considerations  must  always  weigh 
heavily  against  the  hypercritical  judgments  of  a 
few  modern  writers,  who  ask  us  to  believe  that 
the  character,  that  is  most  necessary  to  under- 
stand the  history  of  the  Christian  centuries,  is 
itself  unhistorical ;  but  it  may  also  be  said,  that  the 
present  critical  situation  may  well  be  considered 
rather  reassuring  than  otherwise.  In  any  case,  a 
careful  study  of  the  most  certain  portions  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  must  be  one  of  the  best  and 
surest  ways  of  coming  to  the  life  and  person  of 
Jesus.  The  man  Jesus  must  stand  revealed  in 
this  teaching  with  singular  decisiveness. 

In  the  second  place,  it  may  be  possible  for  us  to 

1  Quoted  by  Knowling,  art.  "  Criticism,"  Dictionary  of  Christ 
and  the  Gospels,  p.  393. 


INTRODUCTION  3 

see  a  little  more  clearly  what  portions  of  the  teach- 
ings of  Jesus  are  most  certain,  and  to  realize  how- 
much  we  have  in  these  portions  that  cannot  be 
doubted. 

Moreover,  for  the  surest  interpretation  of  any  Fresh  histori- 
teaching,  we  must  be  able  to  see  it  in  its  full  his-  tation^^''^''^" 
torical  setting,  and  such  historical  interpretation 
is  always  a  fresh  problem,  needing  ever  to  be 
faced  anew  in  view  of  the  results  of  constantly 
advancing  research.  Here,  for  example,  we  must 
take  account  not  only  of  the  general  influence  of 
the  Jewish  literature  of  the  time,  but  particularly 
of  its  Messianism,  and  of  the  religious  position  of 
the  Pharisees.  Though  all  this  has  far  less  appli- 
cation to  the  ethical  than  to  other  parts  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus. 

To  this  historical  imagination  one  must  add,  as  Psychoiogi- 
well,  what  may  be  called  a  psychological  imagina-  j^tion*^'^^'^^" 
tion,  to  make  the  teaching  real  to  himself.  Here 
the  problem  especially  is  to  get  all  possible  light 
on  Christ's  own  state  of  mind  at  the  time  of  the 
teaching,  and  so  to  see  how  the  teaching  grew  up 
first  of  all  out  of  his  own  experience  and  thought. 

And  in  all  this  the  attempt   must  be  to  keep  Unfolding 
close  to  the  teaching  itself,  to  unfold  it,  rather  than  *^^  teaching. 
to  write  about  it.     No  need  is  greater  than  that    i* 
the  teaching  of  Jesus  should  be  allowed  to  speak 
for  itself.     One  recalls  Horton's  striking  sentence, 
**  It  is  the  unhappy  delusion  of  the  Church  that  it 
knows  the  teaching  of  Jesus."  ^     To  similar  import 

1  The  Teaching  of  Jesus,  p.  viii. 


4  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

Mr.  Peile  says,  in  his  Bampton  lectures,  "  It 
cannot,  I  think,  be  questioned  that  the  striking 
contrast  between  the  Uves  of  Christians  and  the 
rules  which  they  profess  to  accept  is  the  great  re- 
.  ligious  difficulty  of  the  present  day."  ^  We  must, 
therefore,  do  our  utmost  to  approach  the  teaching 
in  such  a  way  as  to  allow  it  to  make  its  own  un- 
biased impression.  Our  single-minded  endeavor 
must  be  to  see  life  through  Christ's  eyes,  to  share 
his  discernment  of  its  laws.  Only  then  shall  we 
be  able  to  bring  out  the  relations  of  the  parts  of 
the  teaching  each  to  each,  and  the  unity  of  all. 
Criticism  of  On  the  Other  hand,  singularly  violent  attacks 
oMesus!^  are  being  made  just  now,  in  some  quarters,  even 
upon  the  ethics  of  Jesus.  It  is  not  only  that  many 
"  even  professedly  Christian  writers  have  declared 
that  teaching  impracticable,  always  impossible  of 
direct  application  to  life ;  but  that  others  are  in- 
sisting that  the  ethics  of  Jesus  is  always  "  end- 
ethics,"  that  is,  teaching  given  only  in  view  of  an 
almost  immediate  end  of  the  present  world-age, 
X  and  so  clearly  not  of  value  for  ordinary  daily  life. 
Still  others  are  attributing  to  Jesus  in  a  most  ex- 
traordinary manner  ethical  judgments,  which  any 
scientific  and  sober  exegesis  must  say  unhesitat- 
ingly were  quite  the  reverse  of  his  true  position.^ 
And,  finally,  a  recent  and  professedly  very  modem 
book  says,  for  example,  amid  a  large  amount  of 
similar  assertion,  "  Luke  is  especially  full  of  teach- 

1  The  Reproach  of  the  Gospel y  p.  6. 

2  See  art.  "  Jesus  or  Christ,"  Hibbert  Journal^  January,  1909. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

ings  quite  as  hard  for  the  conscience  as  the  wonder- 
stories  of  the  Bible  are  difficult  for  the  reason."  ^ 

It  would  seem,  then,  abundantly  worth  while  to  Need  of 
make  a  careful  objective  study  of  the  distinctly  gtudy!^^*^ 
ethical  teaching  of  Jesus.  But  this  volume  at- 
tempts nowhere  any  direct  defense  of  the  teaching 
of  Jesus  as  against  such  criticisms,  nor  any  direct 
attack  upon  the  assumptions  underlying  these 
criticisms;  except  so  far  as  such  defense  or  attack 
is  involved  in  a  clear  objective  understanding  of 
Jesus'  ethical  teaching  itself.  Though  it  would  not 
be  difficult  to  show,  in  many  cases  at  least,  that  the 
criticisms  come  from  failure  to  follow  sound  canons 
of  literary  or  historical  interpretation,  from  a  curi- 
ously inconsistent  mixture  of  older  and  newer 
points  of  view,  or  from  a  supposed  higher  ethical 
viewpoint,  that  takes  all  seriousness  out  of  life,  is 
sentimentalism  pure  and  simple,  justifiable  neither 
scientifically  nor  philosophically.  y. 

It  must  be  regarded,  also,  as  of  no  small  moment  Application 
that  the  student  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  should  tg^^^lng. 
try  to  see  that  teaching  in  its  application  to  his 
own  time.  We  are  to  be  doers,  not  hearers  only. 
And  if  our  modern  psychological  emphasis  upon 
doing  in  order  to  knowing  is  at  all  correct,  it  must 
be  recognized  that  in  this  preeminently  ethical 
realm  we  shall  only  really  profit  by  the  teaching, 
and  rightly  evaluate  it,  as  we  honestly  attempt  its 
application  to  the  life-problems  of  our  own  time. 
This  does  not  mean  a  mere  homiletic  drawing  of 
^  Dole,  What  we  know  about  Jesus,  p.  46  note. 


6  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

morals ;  for  moral  teaching  can  be  truly  and  fully 
seen,  only  as  it  is  brought  home  to  our  own  situa- 
tion and  to  our  own  problems.  We  shall  only 
appreciate  the  insight  of  Jesus  when  we  share  it ; 
and  we  shall  not  truly  share  it  until  we  have  tried 
to  apply  it  to  problems  that  for  ourselves  are  real 
and  pressing.  Just  here  lies  a  great  part  of  the 
virtue  of  Tolstoy's  writing  upon  Christianity.  He 
has  come  into  a  thorough  conviction  of  certain 
basic  principles,  as  he  sees  them,  in  the  teaching 
of  Jesus,  and  is  trying  with  all  his  heart  to  apply 
them  to  our  own  time.  To  relieve  the  minds  of 
those  who  conjure  with  the  word  "scientific,"  it 
might  be  added  that  this  insistence  upon  the  mod- 
ern application  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  is  not  less 
scientific,  but  really  more  so,  because  it  is  the  one 
way  to  genuine  insight  in  the  realm  of  the  ethical. 
If  the  author  does  not  do  this,  the  reader  must  do 
it  for  himself,  if  he  is  to  come  to  clear  convictions. 
No  excuses,  therefore,  need  to  be  made  for  the 
occasional  but  deliberate  present-day  applications 
of  the  teaching.  Probably  it  is  just  here  that 
there  lies  the  largest  part  of  what  we  can  do  in 
making  the  teaching  real. 
Limitation  Our  attempt  may  find  a  further  justification  in 

of  theme.  ^^^  strict  limitation  of  its  theme.  The  book  is  not 
to  undertake  all  the  problems  of  New  Testament 
introduction.  On  the  contrary,  it  aims  to  build 
directly  on  what  others  have  done  in  this  field. 
Particularly,  it  is  not  its  business  to  cover  the 
ground  of  other  books  of  this  series  of  New  Tes- 


INTRODUCTION  7 

tament  Handbooks.  The  very  plan  of  the  series 
rather  requires  strict  limitation.  Nor  is  the  book 
to  deal  with  all  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  Two  books 
of  this  series  have  already  touched,  one  at  length 
and  another  in  an  important  part,  upon  this  teach- 
ing in  its  entirety.  Our  discussion  must  rather  be 
confined  to  the  purely  ethical  teaching,  to  a  spe- 
cific field  less  frequently  covered  ;  though  the  gen- 
eral books  on  the  teaching  of  Jesus  and  on  Christian 
ethics  have  had  not  a  little  to  say,  at  least  inciden- 
tally, upon  our  own  theme ;  and  there  are  not 
wholly  lacking  books  almost  confined  to  this  field. 

In  reaching  our  theme,  moreover,  it  seems  wise  The  entire 
to  begin  with  an  analytic  statement  of  the  teach-  bTc'kground^ 
ing  as  a  whole,  as  it  stands  in  the  Gospels,  in 
order  to  appreciate  the  Evangelists'  point  of  view, 
and  to  recognize  the  relative  unity  of  the  entire 
teaching  as  it  has  been  placed  before  the  disciples 
of  Christ  through  the  centuries  in  the  longest  of 
the  Gospels.  We  are  thus  to  work  from  the 
whole  to  the  parts,  and  not  vice  versa. 

But  it  is  particularly  to  be  noticed  that,  in  order  The  method 
to  keep  the  results  as  objective  as  possible,  the  l)ske°"^~ 
method   of  this   volume   is   that   of   a   composite  photograph, 
photograph.     Against  the  background  of   Luke's 
putting  of  the  entire  teaching  of  Jesus,  the  ethical 
teaching  is  presented  in  a  series  of  pictures  taken 
from  different  and  carefully  chosen  points  of  view, 
superimposed  one  upon   the  other.     The  ethical 
emphases  which  so  result,  we  may  be  certain,  will 
give  us  authentic  and  central  points  in  the  ethics 


8 


THE   ETHICS   OF  JESUS 


Summary 
as  to  aim. 


An  individ- 
ual reaction. 


of  Jesus.  In  other  words,  the  volume  undertakes 
seven  successive  studies  of  the  ethical  teaching  of 
Jesus :  two  from  the  points  of  view  of  suggested 
but  contrasted  criteria  for  that  teaching  —  the 
criterion  of  the  exceptional,  in  Schmiedel's  "  foun- 
dation-pillar "  passages,  and  the  criterion  of  the 
recurring,  in  Burkitt's  ** doubly  attested  sayings"; 
two  from  the  points  of  view  of  the  admittedly 
oldest  sources  —  Mark,  and  the  other  common 
source  of  Matthew  and  Luke;  two  from  the 
points  of  view  of  material  peculiar  to  Matthew, 
and  material  peculiar  to  Luke ;  and  a  concluding 
study  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  as  an  early, 
authentic,  and  intentional  summary  of  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus,  and  as  furnishing  a  further  test  of 
the  results  reached  in  the  previous  studies. 

The  justification,  then,  of  our  undertaking  may 
perhaps  be  found  in  its  aim  to  make  a  direct,  first- 
hand, historico-psychological,  pragmatic  study  of 
a  strictly  limited  field,  approached  by  the  method 
of  the  composite  photograph ;  a  method  that,  if  it 
treats  the  teaching  topically  at  all,  will  do  so  at  the 
end  rather  than  at  the  beginning. 

In  any  case,  the  theme  is  of  endless  significance, 
and  it  can  only  be  seen  in  its  fullness  and  richness 
in  many  individual  reflections  of  it.  Any  genu- 
inely honest,  individual  reaction  upon  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  will  probably  be  not  without  its  value 
for  others.  But  if  this  method  is  to  be  adopted, 
the  Hmitations  of  space  demand  illustrative  rather 
than  exhaustive  treatment. 


INTRODUCTION 


Critical  Position 


Without  attempting  any  discussion  of  the  synop- 
tic problem,  which  properly  belongs  to  other  vol- 
umes, it  may  be  said  that  there  is,  fortunately,  an 
increasing  consensus  of  opinion  among  scholars 
upon  that  problem,  and  I  may  content  myself  with 
quoting  Sanday's  recent  summary  :  ^  "I  shall  as-  Sanday  on 
sume  the  facts  on  which  most  scholars  at  the  pres-  ^^  sources, 
ent  time,  including  Dr.  Wright,  are  substantially 
agreed.  I  shall  assume  that  there  are  three  main 
sources,  or  classes  of  sources,  of  our  present  Gos- 
pels:  (i)  our  present  St.  Mark  —  the  actual  Gos- 
pel, not  an  Urmarciis  or  older  form  of  the  Gospel, 
—  which  has  supplied  the  outline  and  broad  nar- 
rative of  our  Lord's  public  ministry  as  it  is  found 
in  the  other  two  Gospels ;  (2)  a  collection  consist- 
ing for  the  most  part  of  discourses,  which  an 
ancient  tradition  would  lead  us  to  think  was  the 
work  of  St.  Matthew,  and  which  was  drawn  upon 
by  both  the  first  Evangelist  and  St.  Luke,  but  not 
or  in  a  much  less  degree  by  St.  Mark ;  we  may 
follow  the  example  of  many  scholars  at  the  present 
time  by  using  for  this  document  the  symbol  Q ; 
(3)  certain  special  material  peculiar  to  the  First 
Gospel  and  St.  Luke,  and  amounting  in  the  latter 

'^Expository  Times,  December,  1908,  p.  105;  see  also  his  TAg 
Life  of  Christ  in  Recent  Research.  Cf.  Stanton,  art.  "Gospels," 
Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible  ;  White,  art.  "  Gospels,"  Diction- 
ary of  Christ  and  the  Gospels  ;  Knowling,  art.  "  Criticism,"  D.  C. 
G.;  Bacon,  art.  "  Logia,"  D.  C.  G.  ;  Garvie,  Studies  in  the  Inner 
Life  of  Jesus,  the  critical  introduction. 


lO 


THE    ETHICS    OF    JESUS 


Reconstruc- 
tions of  Q. 


Trustwor- 
thiness of 
the  ethical 
teaching  as 
given  in  the 
Synoptic 
Gospels. 


Gospel,  at  what  is  perhaps  a  maximum  reckoning, 
to  nearly  five  hundred  verses."^ 

Various  attempts  to  reconstruct  the  document  Q 
have  been  made  by  Wendt,  Resch,  A.  Wright, 
Reville,  Wernle,  Hawkins,  Wellhausen  (1905), 
Harnack  (1907),  and  B.  Weiss  (i9o8).2  With  the 
exception  of  Weiss',  Harnack's  reconstruction  is 
the  most  recent,  and  may  also  probably  be  re- 
garded as  the  fruit  of  the  most  thoroughgoing 
study ;  and  as  Weiss  differs  from  most  scholars  in 
believing  that  Mark  also  made  considerable  use  of 
Q,  our  study  will  be  based  upon  Harnack's  recon- 
struction, in  his  The  Sayings  of  Jesus, 

It  may  also  be  said  that  there  is  general  agreement 
among  scholars  regarding  the  trustworthiness  of 
the  Synoptic  Gospels  as  to  no  small  part  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus.  While  this  general  agreement 
does  not  by  any  means  cover  all  topics  and  details, 
nor  exclude  the  admission  of  editorial  additions,  it 
is  reassuring  as  to  the  basis  of  our  ethical  studies. 
Thus,  even  so  radical  a  critic  as  Schmiedel,  after 
discussing  his  "foundation-pillars,"  says :  ^  "We 
must  therefore  work  upon  the  principle  that,  to- 
gether with  the  *  foundation-pillars,'  and  as  a  re- 


1  It  is,  of  course,  not  forgotten  that  the  sources  of  these  sources, 
especially  of  Mark,  may  be  also  sought,  as  in  some  of  the  most  re- 
cent inquiries.  See  Menzies,  "  Survey  of  Recent  Literature  on  the 
Synoptic  Gospels,"  Review  of  Theology  and  Philosophy,  June,  and 
July,  1909. 

2  Cf.  Bacon,  art.  "  Logia,"  D.  C.  G.  ;  Moffatt,  The  Historical 
New  Testament,  pp.  641  ff. 

^  Jesus  in  Modern  Criticism,  p.  27. 


INTRODUCTION  II 

suit  of  them,  everything  in  the  first  three  Gospels 
deserves  belief  which  would  tend  to  establish  Jesus' 
greatness,  provided  that  it  harmonizes  with  the 
picture  produced  by  the  'foundation-pillars,*  and 
in  other  respects  does  not  raise  suspicion.  And 
this  gives  us  nothing  less  than  pretty  well  the  whole 
bulk  of  Jesus'  teaching,  in  so  far  as  its  object  is  to 
explain  in  a  purely  religious  and  ethical  way  what 
God  requires  of  man,  and  wherein  man  receives 
comfort  and  consolation  from  God."  The  limitation 
to  a  certain  kind  of  teaching  should  here  be  noted.^ 
So  too,  Harnack,  in  discussing  the  historical  value  of 
Q,  says :  "  Our  knowledge  of  the  teaching  and  the 
history  of  our  Lord,  in  their  main  features  at  least, 
thus  depends  upon  two  authorities  [Mark  and  Q] 
independent  of  one  another,  yet  composed  at  nearly 
the  same  time.  Where  they  agree  their  testimony 
is  strong,  and  they  agree  often  and  on  important 
points.     On  the  rock  of  their  united  testimony,  the 

1  As  to  making  these  "  foundation-pillars "  sole  criterion  for  a 
life  of  Jesus,  I  think  Sanday's  criticism  holds  :  "  The  position  that 
he  takes  up  is  the  paradoxical  one  of  insisting  upon  certain  passages 
because  they  seem  to  run  counter  to  the  main  tenor  of  Christian 
tradition,  but  at  the  same  time  practically  ignoring  this  main  tenor, 
which  is  really  that  which  gives  them  their  value.  In  other  words, 
he  builds  on  the  exceptions,  and  ignores  the  rule  to  which  they  are 
exceptions.  Is  it  not  a  much  fairer  way  of  proceeding  to  treat  the 
passages  of  which  we  have  been  speaking  as  so  much  striking  evi- 
dence of  the  generally  high  historical  character  of  the  documents 
in  which  they  occur  ?  "  (^Expository  Times^  December,  1908,  p.  i  lo.) 
But  this  does  not  affect  our  discussion  of  the  ethical  teaching,  nor 
the  use  of  Schmiedel's  passages  as  one  criterion  for  that  ethical 
teaching. 


12  THE   ETHICS    OF  JESUS 

assault  of  destructive  critical  views,  however  neces- 
sary these  are  to  easily  self-satisfied  research,  will 
ever  be  shattered  to  pieces."  ^  Ramsay  is  even  in- 
clined to  believe  that  Q  "was  written  while  Christ 
was  still  living,"  and  Salmon  takes  a  similar  view.^ 
While  these  views  of  Ramsay  and  Salmon  are  prob- 
ably, as  Sanday  thinks,  somewhat  optimistic,  Allen, 
Wright,  Plummer,  Bacon,  Burkitt,  Loisy,  Jiilicher, 
Wernle,  and  many  others,  may  all  be  quoted  as 
affirming  the  general  trustworthiness  of  the  Synop- 
tic Gospels  as  to  the  simpler  ethical  and  religious 
teaching  of  Jesus.^  This  sentence,  typical  of  all, 
may  be  quoted  from  Wernle,  speaking  of  Q:  **  On 
the  whole,  the  historical  value  of  these  discourses 
is  very  high,  higher  than  that  of  anything  else;  to- 
gether with  the  words  of  the  Lord  in  Mark,  they 
give  us  our  truest  insight  into  the  heart  of  the  Gos- 
pel." And  again,  '*  The  chief  thing  is  how  Jesus 
looked  upon  God,  upon  the  world,  upon  mankind ; 
and  how  he  answered  the  question  of  questions,  — 
what  really  matters  before  God,  what  is  religion. 
And  this  we  can  know;  we  can  see  it  in  bright 
daylight"* 

In  our  examination  of   this  teaching,  we  may 

^  The  Sayings  of/estis^  p.  249. 

2  Cf.  Sanday,  The  Life  of  Christ  in  Recent  Research^  p.  172. 

*  Cf.,  e.g.^  Allen,  The  International  Critical  Commentary,  "  St. 
Matthew,"  pp.  309  ff ;  Wernle,  Sources  of  our  Knowledge  of  the  Life 
of  Jesus,  pp.  99  ff,  129,  131,  152;  Jiilicher,  An  Introduction  to  the 
New  Testament,  §  29,  "  The  historical  value  of  the  Synoptic  Gos- 
pels," pp.  371-372,  373»  374- 

*  Op.  cit.,  pp.  138-139,  and  1 60-1 61. 


INTRODUCTION  1 3 

well  begin  with  what  is  most  certain,  indeed  prac- 
tically undisputed,  —  Schmiedel's  "  foundation-pil- 
lars," and  "  the  doubly  attested  sayings  "  of  Burkitt. 

Schmiedel  selects  certain  specific  passages  which  Schmiedel's 
he  says  must  be  regarded  as  "  not  open  to  ques-  "fuars1f^^°°" 
tion."  Concerning  these  passages,  he  says  :  ^  "I 
select  nine  such  passages,  and  in  order  to  empha- 
size their  importance,  give  them  a  special  name ; 
I  call  them  the  foundation-pillars  of  a  really  sci- 
entific life  of  Jesus.  Now  the  important  point  is 
that  they  are  chosen  on  the  same  principles  which 
guide  every  critical  historian  in  extra-theological 
fields.  When  we  make  our  first  acquaintance 
with  a  historical  person  in  a  book  which  is 
throughout  influenced  by  a  feeling  of  worship  for 
its  hero,  as  the  Gospels  are  by  a  feeling  of  worship 
for  Jesus,  in  the  first  rank  of  credibiHty  we  place 
those  passages  of  the  book  which  really  run 
counter  to  this  feeling;  for  we  realize  that,  the 
writer's  sentiments  being  what  they  were,  such 
passages  cannot  have  been  invented  by  the  author 
of  the  book ;  nor  would  they  have  been  taken  from 
the  records  at  his  service  if  their  absolute  truth- 
fulness had  not  forced  itself  upon  him."  With 
these  nine  passages  he  couples  three  others,  which 
he  says  ^  "  any  impartial  inquirer  would  admit  .  .  . 
are  of  the  same  truthful  nature."  In  starting  with 
these  twelve  passages,  which  Schmiedel  thinks  that 
no  critical  historian  could  question,  for  our  own 
study,  it  is  of  course  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  we 

'^  Jesus  in  Modern  Criticism,  p.  15.  ^  Op.  cit.,  p.  25. 


14 


THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


Burkitt's 
doubly 
attested 
sayings. 


are  using  them  not  as  he  does,  as  a  beginning  of 
a  scientific  life  of  Jesus,  but  solely  for  disclosure 
of  the  ethical  teaching  of  Jesus. 

With  these  "foundation-pillars"  of  Schmiedel 
may  well  be  grouped  the  doubly  attested  saying^ 
collected  by  Burkitt  in  his  book,  The  Gospel  History 
and  Its  Transmission. 

By  the  doubly  attested  sayings,  Burkitt  does  not 
mean  simply  those  which  appear  in  any  two  of  the 
Synoptics.  As  he  says,  "  To  those  who  hold  that 
Matthew  and  Luke  actually  used  our  Mark  and 
another  document  besides,  it  is  evident  that  the 
consensus  of  all  three  Synoptics  resolves  itself  into 
the  single  witness  of  Mark,  and  the  consensus  of 
Matthew  and  Luke  is  in  many  cases  only  to  be 
regarded  as  the  single  witness  of  the  lost  docu- 
ment (Q)."  He  holds  therefore  that  "the  only 
real  double  attestation  is  to  be  found  in  those  few 
passages,  mostly  short,  striking  sayings,  which  ap- 
pear to  have  found  a  place  in  the  common  source 
of  Matthew  and  Luke  (Q)  as  well  as  in  Mark."^ 
He  adds  later  that  we  need  "a  kind  of  starting- 
point  for  the  consideration  of  our  Lord's  doctrine, 
some  external  test  that  will  give  us  a  generaf  as- 
surance that  the  Saying  we  have  before  us  is 
really  from  him,  and  is  not  the  half-conscious 
product  of  one  school  of  his  followers.  Where 
shall  we  find  such  a  test }  It  appeared  to  me  that 
the  starting-point  we  require  may  be  found  in  those 
Sayings  which  have  a  real  double  attestation. 
1  Op.  cit.,  pp.  132-133. 


'^     OF   THE 


be  covered. 


UNIVERSITY 

^^         K    j^TRODUCTION  1$ 

The  main  documents  out  of  which  the  Synoptic 
Gospels  are  compiled  are  (i)  the  Gospel  of  Mark, 
and  (2)  the  lost  common  origin  of  the  non-Markan 
portions  of  Matthew  and  Luke,  i.e.^  the  source 
called  Q.  Where  Q  and  Mark  appear  to  report  the 
same  Saying,  we  have  the  nearest  approach  that 
we  can  hope  to  get  to  the  common  tradition  of  the 
earliest  Christian  society  about  Our  Lord's  words. 
What  we  glean  in  this  way  will  indicate  the  general 
impression  his  teaching  made  upon  his  disciples."  ^ 
Burkitt  beHeves  that  we  can  be  sure  of  thirty  such 
doubly  attested  sayings. 

These  foundation-pillar  passages  of  Schmiedel,  Ground  to 
and  Burkitt's  list  of  the  doubly  attested  sayings, 
give  us  a  starting-point  for  the  study  of  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  which  can  hardly  be  questioned  ;  and 
in  some  important  respects  furnish  at  the  same 
time  criteria  for  the  remaining  study  —  the  criteria 
of  the  exceptional  and  of  the  recurring.  Where 
these  contrasted  criteria  agree  in  ethical  emphasis, 
the  result  should  be  indubitable.  As  already  sug- 
gested, the  study  of  these  passages  would  naturally 
be  followed  by  a  study  of  the  teaching  in  the  oldest 
sources:  Mark,  and  Q,  where  Harnack's  recon- 
struction of  the  latter  document  will  be  taken  as 
basis.  An  estimate  of  the  ethical  teaching  of  Jesus 
peculiar  to  either  Matthew  or  Luke,  and  a  special 
illustrative  study  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  will 
complete  our  survey.  That  is,  our  study  will  be 
confined  to  the  Synoptics,  and  will  try  to  build 
1  op.  cit.y  p.  147. 


i6 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


Exclusion 
of  narrative. 


Other 
exclusions. 


Jesus  never 
separates 
religion 
and  ethics. 


there   continuously   upon  the  assured  results  of 
criticism. 

Limitation  of  Theme 

The  necessarily  strict  limitation  of  our  theme 
will  require  the  exclusion  of  any  detailed  considera- 
tion of  the  narrative  portions  of  the  Gospels,  ex- 
cept so  far  as  this  may  be  necessary  to  make  clear 
the  teaching,  though  the  historical  background,  of 
course,  must  be  always  in  mind. 

The  restriction  to  the  ethical  teaching  of  Jesus 
means,  too,  that  any  large  consideration  of  the 
religious  teaching  is  necessarily  shut  out,  as  well 
as  any  treatment  of  the  doctrine  of  the  person  of 
Christ,  and  also  all  consideration  of  the  eschato- 
logical  teaching.  These  exclusions  of  themselves 
would  largely  exclude  John,  which,  also,  as  a  less 
primary  source,  is  left  out  of  account.^ 

And  yet  it  should  be  made  perfectly  clear  that 
no  sharp  line  is  to  be  drawn,  or  can  be  drawn,  be- 
tween the  ethical  and  the  religious,  either  in  fact 
or  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  If  one  is  to  say,  with 
Professor  Palmer,  that  ethics  is  "  a  criticism  of  the 
formation,  maintenance,  and  comparative  worth  of 
human  customs,"  then  certainly,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  Jesus,  the  ethical  could  not  be  shut  oif 
from  the  religious.  To  believe  in  ethical  aims  and 
laws,  as  involved  in  the  very  constitution  of  our 
beings,  and  as  possible  of  any  kind  of  fulfillment  in 

But  see  summary  of  ethical  teaching  in  John,  in  Strong,  art. 
"  Ethics,"  H.  D.  B.,  p.  784. 


INTRODUCTION  1 7 

the  world,  is  itself  implicitly  and  logically  a  faith 
essentially  religious.  For  it  implies  the  friendli- 
ness of  the  universe  to  such  an  ethical  aim.^  Cer- 
tainly to  the  thought  of  Jesus,  the  ethical  and  re- 
ligious are  inextricably  interwoven.  One  cannot  do 
justice  to  his  standpoint  without  freely  admitting, 
with  J.  Weiss,^  that  "  we  cannot  in  strictness  speak 
of  the  ethics  of  Jesus  at  all,  .  .  .  but  we  may  see 
how  a  great  personality  creates  a  moral  standard  by 
what  he  does  and  suffers,  and  how  he  illustrates  it  in 
his  words."  ^  "  We  speak  accurately  of  ethics  or 
natural  science  only  when  we  regard  the  conduct  of 
men  in  their  mutual  relations  as  something  by  itself, 
abstracted  from  rehgious  feeling  and  action,  .  .  . 
and  such  an  independent  position  of  ethics  ...  is 
simply  beside  the  mark  in  the  case  of  Jesus."  * 
Let  it  be,  therefore,  clearly  and  emphatically  said 
from  the  start  that,  in  speaking  of  the  ethics  of 
Jesus,  we  never  mean  to  imply  that  Jesus  him- 
self separates  the  ethical  problem  from  the  re- 
ligious. The  line  we  here  draw  is  an  arbitrary 
line  of  our  own,  though  it  is  not  without  value  to 
draw  it.  In  drawing  the  line  in  these  studies,  we 
are  simply  to  ask  what  Jesus  conceived  to  be  the 
fundamental  laws  of  human  life,  in  the  relation  of 
man  to  man,  setting  aside,  except  incidentally,  all 
discussion  of  the  relation  of  man  to  God. 

1  Cf.  Mackenzie,  A  Manual  of  Ethics,  pp.  30,  317. 

2  Art.  "  Ethics,"  D.  C.  G. 

8  Cf.  Contentio  Veritatis,  The  Teaching  of  Christ,  pp.  105  ff.,  1 16- 
121,  148-149,  165-166. 
*Cf.  Gilbert,  The  Revelation  of  Jesus,  p.  131. 
c 


i8 


THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


The  ethical 
emphasis  in 
the  teaching 
of  Jesus. 


The  religious 
assumption 
of  the  ethical 
teaching  of 
Jesus. 


But  even  if  one  makes  no  attempt  to  draw  so 
sharp  a  line,  a  faithful  study  of  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  cannot  help  impressing  the  student  with 
the  fact  that  a  surprisingly  large  proportion  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  is  simply  and  distinctly  ethical, 
having  only  the  constant  religious  implication  in 
the  background,  that  any  fundamental  law  of 
human  life  must  be  at  the  same  time  the  will  of 
God.  And  his  expressly  religious  teaching,  more- 
over, is,  in  very  large  part,  of  the  simplest  possible 
sort,  that  connects  itself  most  directly  with  funda- 
mental ethical  assumptions.  We  are  certain,  there- 
fore, to  find  a  fruitful  and  large  field  of  study  in 
the  ethical  teaching,  and  it  is  a  study  that  will 
have  very  much  to  contribute  to  what  has  proved 
to  be  through  the  generations  the  abiding  picture 
of  Jesus.^ 

Summary  of  the  Entire  Teaching  of  Jesus 

We  shall  best  estimate  the  ethical  teaching  of 
Jesus  as  gathered  from  the  earliest  sources,  criti- 
cally determined,  when  we  see  it  against  the  back- 
ground of  the  entire  teaching  as  set  forth  in 
Matthew  or  Luke.  We  may  the  more  appro- 
priately attempt  such  a  brief  survey  of  the  whole, 
not  only  because  of  the  general  advantage  of 
working  from  the  whole  to  the  parts  rather  than 
simply  from  the  parts  to  the  whole,  but  also  be- 

iCf.  Roberts,  art.  "Gospel,"  D.  C.  G.,  p.  66i  :  "  Much  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  could  not  be  directly  classed  under  the  '  Gospel ' 
as  sketched  above  ;   it  was  ethical  teaching." 


INTRODUCTION  I9 

cause  all  the  elements  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  do 
necessarily  affect  the  ethical  teaching.  It  is  well 
to  see,  for  example,  that  religious  teaching,  in  the 
thought  of  Jesus,  is  always  involved  in  what  may 
seem  to  be  the  plainest  ethical  principles,  because 
every  duty  which  he  recognizes  is  felt  by  him  to 
be  the  will  of  God,  and  the  will  of  God  always  some 
duty.  The  situation  in  the  mind  of  Jesus,  I  sup- 
pose, is  in  this  respect  precisely  like  that  of  every 
religious  man  of  the  modern  time,  who,  if  he  be- 
lieves in  God  at  all  as  his  Creator,  must  conceive 
of  the  fundamental  laws  of  his  own  nature  as  at 
the  same  time  expressions  of  the  will  of  the  crea- 
tive God. 

'^So,  too,  our  conception  of  the  person  of  Christ  The  life  of 
is  closely  related  to  our  view  of  his  ethics.     And  Jf^"^  ^! 

•'  illustrating 

while  primarily  we  shall  have  nothing  to  do  with  and  reaiiz- 
his  life,  it  must  still  be  recognized  that  in  the  ex-  ^"g  ^^^ 
ample  of  Jesus,  for  instance,  we  have  the  best  pos-  .^.-^ 
sible  illustration  of  the  translation  of  his  principles 
into  life,  and  we  cannot  wholly  ignore  the  impres- 
sion made  by  the  spirit  of  his  life  in  the  interpre- 
tation of  his  teaching.^     And  so  far  as  we  find  our 
highest  ideal  embodied  in  him,  he  becomes  for  us, 
as  even  John  Stuart  Mill  could  feel,  a  kind  of  per- 
sonalized conscience.     Moreover,  no  abstract  state- 
ment of  ethical  principles  can    possibly  influence 
life  as  the  personal  incarnation  of  those  principles 
does ;  and  the  influence  of  the  life  of  Jesus  must 

1  Cf.  Horton,    The   Teaching  of  Jesus,  pp.  274  fF. ;    Ross,   The 
Teaching  of  Jesus  y"^.  119;  and  many  others. 


20 


THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 


Ethical 
bearing  of 
the  eschato- 
logical. 


Why  Luke 
is  chosen. 


doubtless  be  conceived  as  far  more  potent,  even, 
than  his  teaching.  And  if  the  greatest  means  to 
the  true  Hfe  we  know  is  personal  association  with 
the  high  and  noble,  then  it  need  not  seem  strange 
that  love  for  Christ  as  a  person  has,  as  a  matter  of  \ 
fact,  proved  the  mightiest  of  historical  motives  to 
noble  living.^ , 

Once  more,  it  is  plain  that  even  the  strict  es- 
chatological  teaching  of  Jesus  may  have  a  direct 
ethical  bearing  in  its  implied  emphasis  on  the 
worth  of  men. 

As  it  seems  fairly  clear  that  Matthew  is  inclined 
to  group  his  material  in  large  sections,  topically, 
and  as  the  most  important  of  these  sections,  the 
so-called  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  will  be  the  subject 
of  special  study  later,  we  may  perhaps  best  use 
Luke  for  our  summary  of  the  entire  teaching  of 
Jesus. 

Having  reference,  then,  solely  to  the  teaching, 


1  Cf.  Hunger,  The  Freedom  of  Faith,  pp.  109  ff :  "We  must  go  by 
the  eternally  ordained  path  of  love  to  him  who  is  the  revelation  of 
eternal  Love,  —  a  Person,  —  and  suffer  his  love  to  charm  us  into  a 
kindred  love;  we  must  lay  our  hearts  close  beside  his,  that  they 
may  learn  to  beat  with  the  same  motion;  our  wills  near  his,  that 
they  may  fall  into  its  harmony,"  p.  127.  Cf.  also  Bushnell,  Ser- 
mons for  the  New  Life,  pp.  127  ff.  This  sentence  illustrates  his 
thought,  "  Follow  without  question  the  impulse  of  love  to  Christ's 
own  person;  for  this,  when  really  full  and  sovereign,  will  put  you 
along  easily  in  a  kind  of  infallible  way,  and  make  your  conduct 
chime,  as  it  were,  naturally  with  all  God's  future,  even  when  that 
future  is  unknown;  untying  the  most  difficult  questions  of  casuistry 
without  so  much  as  a  question  raised."  Cf.  also  Charles  E.  Jeffer- 
son's The  Character  ofjesus^  and  Stalker's  Imago  Christi. 


INTRODUCTION  21 


not  to  the  narratives  of  the  Gospel,  the  teaching  Outline  of 
of  Jesus  in  Luke  may  perhaps  be  compactly  in-  *^  ^^^^  r 
dicated  in  the  following  outline  :  —  Jesus  in 


I.    T/ie  great  characteristics  of  his  ministry  (illustrated  in 
the  rest  of  the  book).     4  :  16-6  :  49. 

A.  His  own  chosen  view  of  his  ministry.  4  :  16-30 ;  (cf. 

7  :  18-23).  A  gospel  of  joy,  of  hope,  of  liberty,  of 
health  for  body,  mind,  and  spirit,  of  universal  grace. 
4:  18,  25-27.    Cf.  chapters  9  and  10. 

B.  His   note  of  authority.     4:31-44.     (Cf.   5:33-39; 

10 :  17-24 ;  19  :  28-21  :  36 ;  especially  4 :  32,  35,  36, 
39,  41 ;  5  :  13 ;  6:5,  20,  27,  and  many  other  pas- 
sages.) 

C.  The  motive  of  his  ministry.     5  :  30-32.     (Cf.  7  :  40- 

50;  9:  1-6;  10:  1-16;  and  ch.  15.)  "I  am  not 
come  to  call  the  righteous  but  sinners  to  repent- 
ance." 

D.  The  revolutionary  character  of  his  teaching.     5  :  33- 

6:11. 

1.  As  to  fasting.     5  :  33-39. 

2.  As  to  the  law  of  the  Sabbath.     6  :  i-i  r. 

j/'E.  The  qualities  of  disciples,  and  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  the  Kingdom.  6  :  20-49.  Cf.  divisions 
III,  V,  and  VII.  Luke's  version  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount ;  illustrated  throughout  the  rest  of  the 
Gospel. 

1.  A  new  and  revolutionary  standard  of  happiness. 

6 :  20-26. 

2.  The    characteristics   of  the  true    righteousness. 

6 :  27-49. 
i)  Universal  love  the  one  great  ruling  principle, 
vv.  27-36.     (Cf.  5:30-32.) 

2)  The  sin  and  folly  of  the  judging  attitude,   vv. 

37-45.     (Cf.  18:9-14.) 

3)  Demand  for  fruit   in  life.     vv.  46-49.     (Cf. 

vv.  43-45?  and  ch.  14.) 


Luke. 


22  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

This  section  means  that  love  forbids  the  judging 
attitude,  and  requires  concrete  expression  in  life. 
Jesus  is  here  giving  a  great,  relatively  new,  ethical 
emphasis  in  religion. 

The  whole  of  the  first  great  division  of  Jesus'  teach- 
ing, as  given  in  Luke,  may  be  thus  summed 
"P-  (i)  good  tidings;  (2)  authoritatively  given; 
(3)  born  of  love  ]  (4)  bursting  the  bonds  of  much 
previous  religion;  and  (5)  calling  for  the  new 
righteousness  of  universal  love  in  its  votaries. 
II.    Tke  varied  response.     7  :  18-8  :  21. 

A.  How  Jesus  meets  the  growing  distrust  of  a  previous 

warm  friend.     7  :  18-35. 

B.  How  Jesus  meets  the  misgivings  and  misconstruction 

of  a  broader  Pharisee.  7  :  36-50.  A  sympathetic, 
forgiving,  redeeming  love,  as  over  against  a  hard, 
unsympathetic,  separating  judgment.    Cf.  ch.  15. 

C.  In  general,  results  depend  on  hearer.     8  : 4-21. 

1 .  Parable  of  the  sower  —  reception  given  the  seed. 

vv.  4-15. 

2.  Parable  of  the  lamp  —  "  Take  heed  how  ye  hear." 

vv.  16-18. 

3.  "  My  mother  and  my  brethren  "  —  ''  hear  and  do." 

vv.  19-21. 
Division  II  may  be  summed  up  in  saying  that  Christ 
meets  all  with  the  one  great  message  of  seeking,  self- 
giving  love;  what  reception  that  message  will  get  de- 
pends on  the  man  himself. 
III.  Jesus'  method  the  leaven  of  the  disciple  of  the  right  quali- 
ties.   9:1-11:13. 

A.  The  mission  of  the  Twelve,  and  their  charge.     9*.  1-6. 

B.  The  qualities  of  discipleship  required.     9  :  18-62. 

1.  The  one  call  of  self-sacrificing  love  for  master  and 

disciples  alike,     vv.  18-27.     (Cf.  vv.  44-45.) 

2.  "  The  greatest."     vv.  46-48. 

3.  Tolerance  —  "  Forbid  him  not."     vv.  49-50. 

4.  Counting  the  cost.    vv.  57-62. 


INTRODUCTION  23 

Thus,  the  disciple  will  be  self-sacrificing,   humble, 
tolerant,  and  heroic  in  the  love  he  manifests. 

C.  The  still  wider  mission  of  the   Seventy,  and  their 

charge.     lo :  1-16, 

D.  The  qualities  of  discipleship.     10  :  17-I1 :  13. 

1.  Joy  of  discipleship.     10:17-24.     , 

2.  True  neighborliness.    10:25-37.    Love  concretely 

illustrated  in  the  parable  of  the  Good  Samari- 
tan. A  rebuke  of  narrow  prejudice  at  every 
point. 

3.  Underestimating  spiritual  opportunity.    10:38-42. 

(Note  especially  vv.  41-42.) 

4.  Exhortation  to  prayer.     11:1-13. 

i)    The   disciples'   prayer,   expressing   the   very 

spirit  of  discipleship.     vv.  1-4. 
2)    "Ask;  seek;  knock."   vv.  5-13. 
There  is,  thus,  here  asked  from  the  disciple :  love 
born  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ,  prizing  its  mean- 
ing, practically  shown,  and  depending  on  God. 
The  disciple  is  to  live  a  joyful,  neighborly.  Christ- 
like, prayerful  life. 
IV.    The  deepening  conflict  with  the  Pharisaic  forces.    11:14- 

16:31. 
Introductory.  Throughout  this  central  section,  Jesus 
is  developing  his  own  positive  teaching,  as  set  over 
against  the  prevailing  religious  spirit  of  his  time. 
The  whole  section  is  probably  primarily  directed  to 
the  training  of  the  Twelve,  to  bringing  them  into 
his  own  spirit  and  thought,  and  guarding  them 
against  the  insidious,  ever  present,  ever  corrupting 
Pharisaic  spirit.  It  is  a  solemn  task  which  Jesus 
so  sets  himself;  the  whole  survival  of  true  religion 
seems  to  him  to  be  at  stake.  This  whole  section 
(chs.  11-16),  hke  chapter  11  in  particular,  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  study  in  moral  blindness ;  and  like  chap- 
ter 12,  as  giving  motives  against  the  Pharisaic  spirit; 
the  whole  section,  too,  might  well  be  considered. 


24  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

like  chapter  13,  as  warning  against  the  Pharisaic 
spirit ;  though  there  is  some  propriety  in  giving  these 
special  titles  to  the  chapters  named. 

A.  A  study  in  moral  blindness.     1 1  :  14-52. 

1.  The  moral  blindness  of  the  Pharisees  reveals  itself 

in  the  ascription  of  good  to  evil;  they  have 
trifled  with  their  own  moral  instincts,   vv.  14-23. 

2.  It  involves  satisfaction  with  mere  emptiness  of 

soul.     vv.  24-26. 

3.  It  necessarily   fells  back  upon  ''sign  seeking," 

rather  than  response  to  the  moral  and  spiritual 
appeal.  It  involves  rejection  of  the  highest, 
vv.  29-32. 

4.  All   this  grows  directly  out  of  a  self-perverted 

spiritual  vision,     vv.  33-36. 

5.  And  this  moral  blindness  is  illustrated  in 

i)   valuing  the  outer  rather  than  the  inner,  w. 
37-41  ; 

2)  valuing  the  petty  rather  than  the  great,  w. 

42-44; 

3)  valuing  the  "  hedge  of  the  law  "  rather  than 

the  law,  vv.  45-52. 
As  over  against  these  characteristics  of  the  Pharisaic 
spirit,  the  disciple  must  be  true,  positive,  desiring 
the  real,  seeing  straight. 

B.  Motives  against  the  Pharisaic  spirit ;  the  enemies  of 

life.     Ch.  12. 
Introductory.      In   a  peculiar  degree,   this   chapter 
contains  a  multiplication  of  motives  for  the  right- 
eous life,  and  deals  prevailingly  with  the  moral  as- 
pect of  the  relation  to  God. 

1.  Motives  against  hypocrisy,     vv.  1-12. 

2.  Motives  against  covetousness.    vv.  13-21. 

3.  Motives  against  anxiety,     vv.  22-34. 

4.  Motives  against  the  ungirt  life.     vv.  35-53. 

5.  Motives  against  lack  of  moral  insight,    vv.  54-59. 
As  over  against  these  characteristics  of  the  Pharisaic 


INTRODUCTION  2$ 

Spirit,  the  disciple  of  Christ  must  be  absolutely 
honest,  unselfish,  trusting  in  God,  vigilantly  watch- 
ful, seeing  the  true. 
C.    Continued    warning    against    the   Pharisaic  spirit. 
Ch.  13. 

1.  Against  uncharitable  judgment  of  others  on  ac- 

count of  calamities  ;  and  against  forgetfmg  the 
absolute  need  of  life  in  the  individual,    vv.  1-5. 

2.  Against   fruitlessness,  —  mere   harmlessness    of 

life.     vv.  6-9. 

3.  Against   deadness   to  mercy,   exalting    sacrifice 

above  mercy  in  the  legalistic  spirit ;  misread- 
ing God  himself,  and  so  all  life.     vv.  10-17. 

4.  Against  a  small  and  petty  view  of  the  Kingdom. 

vv.  18-21. 

5.  Against  lack  of  earnestness  —  striving  to  the  end. 

vv.  22-30. 

6.  Against  the  desolateness  of  the  life  that  is  blind 

to  the  messengers  of  God.     vv.  31-35. 
As  over  against  these  characteristics  of  the  Pharisaic 
spirit,  the  disciple  must  be  charitable  in  his  judg- 
ment, have  life  in  himself,  be  fruitful,  vitally  merci- 
ful, have  faith  in  the  greatness  of  the  plans  of  God, 
be  consistently  earnest,  awake  to  the  message  of 
God. 
l/D.   The  Kingdom  for  all  who  will  have  it ;  or,  life  for    v" 
all  who  will  sow  to  life.     Ch.  14. 

1.  Mercy,  not  legalism,     vv.  1-6. 

2.  The  true  measure  of  a  man  is  not  sitting  in  the 

chief  seats,  but  worthiness  to  sit  in  them  ;  not  -^^ 
self-exaltation,  but  real  humility,     vv.  7-11. 

3.  The  great  test  is  really  unselfish  service ;    "  not 

for  recompense."    vv.  12-14. 

4.  Not  height   of  natural  privilege,   but   response, 

insures   the   great    values    of    the    Kingdom, 
vv.  15-24. 

5.  The  one  vital  element  of  discipleship  is  willing- 


26  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

ness  to  follow  Jesus  in  the  sacrificial,  self-giving 

spirit,  vv.  25-35. 
As  over  against  these  elements  of  failure  in  Pharisa- 
ism, Jesus  asks  that  his  disciples  should  be  merci- 
ful in  spirit,  genuinely  humble,  unselfishly  serving, 
deeply  caring  for  the  Kingdom,  self-sacrificing. 
The  salt  of  self-sacrifice  can  alone  give  savor  to 
life. 

E.  The  seeking,  suffering  love  of  God.     Ch.  15. 

This  chapter  contains  the  very  heart  of  the  teaching 
of  Jesus,  and  clearly  involves  his  great  convictions 
that :  — 

1.  God  is  Father,  and  therefore  cares,  seeks,  rejoices 

in  the  return  of  his  child,  and  grieves  over  his 
wandering. 

2.  Man  is  son  beloved,  made  for  God  and  associa- 

tion with  him. 

3.  Sin  is   the  unfilial   attitude  toward  God,  going 

away  from  the  Father. 

4.  Repentance  is  coming  to  oneself,  and  this  is  to 

come  back  to  God. 

5.  Redemption  is  God's  seeking,  forgiving,  suffering 

love,  winning  back  the  son  into  the  filial  life 

with  the  Father. 
Here  the  spirit  of  the  disciple  is  represented  as  being 
simply  that  of  the  true  child  of  God,  and  ready  to 
show,  in  the  sharing  of  the  Father's  life,  the  same 
spirit  which  the  Father  shows. 

F.  The  law  of  consequences  in  the  moral  life,  especially 

as  illustrated  in  the  love  and  use  of  money.  Ch.  16. 

1 .  The  true  use  of  riches  ;  or,  foresight  in  the  spirit- 

ual life.     vv.  1-13. 

2.  Christ's  answer  to  the  Pharisaic  scoffing  ;  the  law 

of  consequences,     vv.  14-18. 

3.  No  way   of  escaping    the   consequences   of  the 

selfish  abuse  of  riches,  even  in  the  future  life, 
vv.  19-31. 


INTRODUCTION  27 

As  contrasted  with  this  spirit,  the  demand  here  made 
upon  the  disciple  of  Christ  is  that  he  should  show 
foresight  in  the  spiritual  life,  wisely  using  his  riches, 
act  ever  in  view  of  the  law  of  the  harvest,  and  use 
unselfishly  all  means  committed  to  him. 

V.  The  more    direct   training  of  the    Twelve :   the  spirit 

required  in  the  Disciple.    17  :  1-19 :  27. 

A.  Patience.     Ch.  17. 

1 .  Patient  care  not  to  stumble  even  the  least,    vv. 

1-2. 

2.  The   spirit   of   patient  and   tender  forgiveness. 

vv.  3-4. 

3.  The  power  of  even  a  little  genuine  faith,     vv. 

5-^-  .  .        ^ 

4.  The  spirit  of  patient  and  meek  humility  in  service.  ^ 

vv.  7-10. 

5.  The    duty  and   beauty  of  expressed   gratitude. 

vv.  11-19. 

6.  Patient    faith    in    the    invisible   Kingdom,     vv. 

20-21. 

7.  Readiness  to  meet  the   times  of  crisis:   patient 

endurance  to  the  end.     vv.  22-37. 

B.  Chapter  18. 

1.  Persistent    and     humbly    penitent    in     prayer. 

vv.  1-14. 

2.  Valuing  the  childlike  spirit,     vv.  15-17. 

3.  Withstanding  the  peril  of  riches,  —  the  peril  of 

the  lower  attainment,     vv.  18-30. 

4.  Readiness  to  follow  a  suffering  Lord,    v v.  31-34. 

C.  FideUty  in  the  trusts  of  the  Kingdom.     19:  11-27. 

VI .  Pressing  his  claijus  at  the  center  of  power.    1 9 :  28-2 1:36. 

A.  The  claim  of  Messiahship  —  of  universal  and  eternal 

significance,  in  the   triumphal  entry,  and  in  the 
lamentation  over  Jerusalem.     19 :  28-46. 

B.  Controversy  with  the  national  leaders.     20:  1-21  14. 

1.  As  to  his  authority.     20  :  1-8. 

2.  A  parable  of  judgment  on  the  nation.     20  :  9-18. 


28  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

3.  The  tribute  to  Caesar.     20 :  19-26. 

4.  As  to  the  resurrection.     20 :  27-40. 

5.  Christ  as  David's  son.     20  :  41-44. 

6.  Warning  against  the  scribes.     20 :  45-47. 

7.  The  contrast  of  the  poor  widow.     21:1-4. 

C.   The  eschatological  discourse ;  Christ's  claim  to  world 

significance.     21  :  5-36. 
All  this  means  that  the  disciple  will  recognize  Christ's 
universal  and  eternal  significance,  his  moral  and  spirit- 
ual lordship. 
VII.   Last  Counsels  to  the  disciples. 

A.  The  new  conditions.     22  :  14-38. 

1.  The  new  covenant,     vv.  14-23. 

2.  Rank  in  the  new  Kingdom,    vv.  24-30. 

3.  Peter's  sifting,    vv.  31-34. 

4.  Changed  conditions  to  be  faced,    vv.  35-38. 

B.  Suffering  and  glory  and  universal  mission.   24 :  13-49. 
The  Lord  of  seeking,  suffering  love  is  the  Lord  of 

glory  and  the  Lord  of  all. 


Amount  and  Permanence  of  the  Ethical  Teaching 

Even  this  very  rapid  survey  of  the  entire  teach- 
ing of  Jesus,  just  as  we  find  it  in  the  longest  of 
the  Gospels,  furnishes  the  best  background  for  our 
special  study  of  the  ethical  teaching  of  Jesus,  and 
serves  at  the  same  time  to  bring  out  two  things 
clearly:  (i)  the  very  large  proportion  of  his  teach- 
ing that  deals  with  the  simplest  principles  of  the 
ethical  and  religious  life;  and  (2)  the  recurrence 
of  certain  great  emphases  in  his  teaching. 

One  is  reminded  of  Harnack's  words  in  his 
discussion  of  Q  :  "  It  is  astonishing  that  at  a  time 
when  St.  Paul  was  actively  engaged  in  his  mission, 


INTRODUCTION  29 

and  when  the  problem  of  apologetics  and  the  con-  Hamack 
troversy  concerning  the  law  were  burning  ques-  ^^  ^^^^^  ^ 
tions,  the  teaching  of  Our  Lord  should  have  been  ethical 
still  so  clearly  and  distinctly  preserved  in  the  mem-  ^^^  ^^^^' 
ory  of  Christians  in  the   simple  force  of  its  es- 
sentially ethical  character."  ^     To  similar  import 
Burkitt  says  :  "The  evangelists  are  not  mechanical 
chroniclers ;  they  are  not  afraid  to  treat  the  ma- 
terial before  them  with  great  literary  freedom,  and 
here  and  there  we  actually  see  unhistorical  legends 
growing  as  it  were  before  our  eyes.     Under  these 
circumstances,  the  real  miracle,  which  only  escapes 
our  notice  because  it  is  so  familiar,  is  the  irresist- 
ible vitality  of  the  ethical  teaching  of  the  Gospel."  ^ 

As  to  the  repeated  emphases  in  the  teaching  The 
of  Jesus,  there  is  especially  to  be  noted  the  vital,  g^p^ases. 
concrete  characterization  of  the  life  of  the  dis- 
ciple of  Jesus,  as  it  comes  out  in  the  various  sec- 
tions of  Luke.  Two  emphases  recur  again  and 
again  in  this  characterization  of  the  true  disciple : 
the  emphasis  on  the  need  of  absolute  truth  and 
honesty  in  his  disciples,  and  the  emphasis  on  the 
essential  need  of  a  genuine,  self-giving  love. 

On  the  one  hand,  many  other  points  in  Jesus'  Emphasis 
teaching  are  seen  to  connect  themselves  at  once  ^^  ^^^^^^y- 
with  his  repeated  emphasis  on  the  need  of  abso- 
lute truth  and  honesty  in  his  disciples.     If  the  dis- 
ciple is  absolutely   true   and  honest  (11:14-23; 
12  : 1-12),  he  will  desire  the  real  (11 :  29-32);  he 

^  The  Sayings  of  Jesus,  p.  209. 

2  The  Gospel  History  and  lis  Transmission^  p.  27. 


30 


THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


Trends  in 
the  entire 
teaching. 


will  be  able  to  see  straight  (i  i  :  33-36 ;  12  :  54-59); 
he  will  be  vigilantly  watchful  (12  :  35-53),  persist- 
ently earnest  (13:22-30),  and  positively  fruitful 
(13  :  6-9;  of.  II  :  24-26).  And  in  this  cooperation 
with  the  purposes  of  God,  he  will  have  a  grow- 
ing faith  in  the  greatness  of  the  plans  of  God 
(13:18-21),  and  not  doubt  the  presence  of  law  in 
his  moral  and  spiritual  life  (chs.  12,  14,  and  16). 

On  the  other  hand,  the  true  love,  too,  which 
Jesus  calls  for  from  his  disciples,  is  fully  charac- 
terized in  the  teaching  in  Luke.  It  will  be  a  love 
for  all  (6  :  27-36),  unjudging  (6  :  37-45),  practically 
fruitful  (6:46-49),  tenderly  compassionate  and 
forgiving  (7 :  36-50),  humble  (9  :  46-48  ;  14  :  7-11), 
and  tolerant  (9 :  49-50),  heroic  in  its  self-sacrifice 
(9:18-27,  57-62),  vitally  merciful  (10:25-37;  cf. 
13:10-17,  and  14:1-6),  using  all  means  unself- 
ishly (12:13-21;  14:12-14;  16:1-31),  faithful 
and  watchful  in  its  trusts  (14:15-24;  16:1-13; 
19 :  1 1-27),  absolutely  genuine  in  its  self-giving 
(14:25-35;  ch.  15;  18:31-34).  This  loving  life, 
too,  it  should  be  noted,  is  thought  of  everywhere 
as  the  natural  response  to  the  love  of  God  him- 
self. And,  moreover,  the  great  method  of  the  new 
Kingdom  is  seen  to  be  the  personal  association  of 
the  loving  life. 

Finally,  if  we  are  to  see  the  strictly  ethical 
teaching  of  Jesus  in  its  proper  relations  to  the 
rest  of  his  teaching,  certain  great  trends  and  in- 
ferences from  this  survey  of  his  entire  teaching 
should  be  noted. 


INTRODUCTION  3 I 

First,  there  is  here  brought  out  the  revolution-  The  teach- 
ary  character  of  the  rehgion  of  Jesus.  This  is  seen  Jf^r^^^^" 
in  all  the  great  divisions  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus 
in  Luke  ;  but  the  disciples  were  slow  to  recognize 
the  fact ;  and  this  has  produced,  as  Scott  has 
pointed  out,  a  progressive  apologetic  for  Chris- 
tianity, even  within  the  New  Testament.^ 

In  the  second  place,  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  as  Jesus' 
given  in  Luke,  seems  to  set  forth  the  absoluteness  ^^^^"^^• 
of  his  own  claims.    This  is  also  to  be  seen  in  prac- 
tically every  great  section  in  Luke's  version  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus.^ 

In  the  third  place,  while  the  conception  never  The 
occurs  in  form,  it  is  the  plain  implication  that  the  ^^^oiute 

^  ^  rehgion. 

religion  of  Christ  must  be  the  absolute  religion, 
because  he  brings  the  culmination  of  all  that  re- 
ligion could  ever  bring,  putting  men  finally  into 
filial  relation  with  God  as  Father.  (Cf.  chs.  7,  10, 
12,  and  15.) 

And,  finally,  it  is  plain  that  at  the  very  center  Love  as  life. 
of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  lies  the  all-dominating 
conviction  that  a  genuine  seeking  love  is  at  the 
heart  of  all  Hfe,  whether  in  God,  in  Christ,  or  in 
the  disciple  of  Christ. 

While,  then,  our  own  study  is  to  be  confined  to  The  ethical 
the  directly  ethical  teaching  of  Jesus,  there  must  ^!^^  "^^^ 
be  clear  discernment  that  in  that  teaching,  as  it  is  Jesus' 
represented  in  the  Gospels,   and  as   it  has  been  ^^^^^^'^e- 

1  Cf.  Scott,  The  Apologetic  of  the  New  Testament. 

2  Cf.  Harnack,  The  Sayings  of  Jesus^  pp.  233-246;    Cambridge 
Theological  Essays,  p.  538. 


32  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

accepted  through  the  centuries  by  the  Church,  the 
ethical  and  religious  are  constantly  interwoven  ; 
that  Jesus  thinks  of  his  message  always  as  a  mes- 
sage of  great  good  news  to  men,  that  goes  back  to 
his  great  conviction  of  God  as  true  Father.  But 
this  very  conviction  of  God  as  Father,  of  essential 
love  at  the  heart  of  the  universe,  makes  Jesus  cer- 
tain that  the  laws  of  the  universe,  and  of  the  world 
of  men,  as  laws  of  the  loving  God,  must  be  laws  of 
life,  to  be  studied,  to  be  heartily  welcomed,  to  be 
joyfully  obeyed.  And  this  insight  into  the  laws  of 
the  relations  of  man  to  man  is  the  more  sure  and 
deep  and  significant  because  these  relations  are 
seen  in  the  light  of  the  whole.  Even  for  the  man 
who  can  find  no  sure  religious  message  in  Jesus, 
his  strictly  ethical  teaching  contains  a  priceless 
treasure.^ 

1  Cf.  Schmiedel, /esus  in  Modern  Criticism,  pp.  90-91 ;  Gardner, 
Exploratio  Evangelica,  pp.  11S-119,  cf.  pp.  177,  178,  193  ff.,  325. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE  ETHICAL  TEACHING  IN  SCHMIEDEL'S 
FOUNDATION-PILLAR  PASSAGES,  AND  IN  THE 
DOUBLY   ATTESTED   SAYINGS.     CRITERIA 

I.    SchmiedeVs  *^Fo7indation-pillars'' 

As  we  have  already  seen,  Schmiedel,  in  seek-  Schmiedel's 
ing  what  he  calls  "foundation-pillars  of  a  really  ^lassifica- 
scientific  life  of  Jesus,"  selects  nine  passages  passages. 
**whose  contents,"  he  thinks,  "  could  not  have  been 
invented  ";i  and  with  them  groups  three  others, 
which,  he  says,  "  any  impartial  inquirer  would  admit 
are  of  the  same  truthful  nature."  ^  Upon  these 
twelve  passages  he  believes  that  we  may  unhesi- 
tatingly build.  He  divides  these  passages  into 
three  groups :  the  first  five  as  those  "  which  throw 
light  on  Jesus'  character  as  a  whole  " ;  the  next  four, 
"which  have  a  special  bearing  upon  his  character 
as  a  worker  of  wonders  "  ;^  and  the  last  three  he 
adds,  "  because  it  is  incumbent  upon  every  critic  of 
his  [Jesus']  life  to  say  in  what  his  greatness  con- 
sistedr  *  We  begin  our  study  of  the  ethical  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  with  these  twelve  passages. 

The  nine  "  foundation-pillars  "  which  Schmiedel  The  pas- 
selects,  and  the  three  supplementary,  equally  cer-  f^Tted  b' 
tain,  passages,  are  :  —  Schmiedel. 

"^  Jesus  in  Modern  Criticism^  p.  15.  ^  Op.  cit.,  p.  25. 

«  Op,  cit.t  p.  18.  *  Op.  cit.,  p.  25. 

D  33 


34  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

I .   The  ''^foundation-pillars.'''' 

i)  Indicating  Jesus'  "  character  as  a  whole." 

(i)  And  when  his  friends  heard  it,  they  went  out  to  lay 
hold  on  him  :  for  they  said,  He  is  beside  himself. 
And  there  come  his  mother  and  his  brethren ;  and, 
standing  without,  they  sent  in  to  him,  calling  him. 
And  a  multitude  was  sitting  about  him;  and 
^  they  say  unto  him,  Behold,  thy  mother  and  thy 
brethren  without  seek  for  thee.  And  he  answer- 
eth  them,  and  saith.  Who  is  my  mother  and  my 
brethren  ?  And  looking  round  on  them  that  sat 
round  about  him,  he  saith,  Behold,  my  mother 
and  my  brethren  !  For  whosoever  shall  do  the 
will  of  God,  the  same  is  my  brother,  and  sister, 
and  mother.     Mark  3:21,  31-35. 

(2)  But  of  that  day  or  that  hour  knoweth  no  one,  not 

even  the  angels  in  heaven,  neither  the  Son,  but 
the  Father.     Mark  13  :  32. 

(3)  And  Jesus  said  unto  him.  Why  callest  thou  me 

good  ?  none  is  good  save  one,  even  God.  Mark 
10:18. 

(4)  And  whosoever  shall  speak   a  word    against   the 

Son  of  man,  it  shall  be  forgiven  him  ;  but  who- 
soever shall  speak  against  the  Holy  Spirit,  it 
shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this  world, 
nor  in  that  which  is  to  come.     Matt.  12  :  32. 

(5)  And  at  the  ninth  hour  Jesus  cried  with  a  loud  voice, 

Eloi,  Eloi,  lama  sabachthani  ?  which  is,  being  in- 
terpreted. My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  for- 
saken me  .'*     Mark  1 5  :  34. 
2)  Indicating  Jesus'  "  character  as  a  worker  of  wonders." 

(6)  And  he  sighed  deeply  in  his  spirit,  and  said.  Why 

doth  this  generation  seek  a  sign?  verily  I  say 
unto  you.  There  shall  no  sign  be  given  unto  this 
generation.     Mark  8  :  12. 

(7)  And  he  could  do  there  no  mighty  work,  save  that 

he  laid  his  hands  upon   a  few  sick  folk,  and 


SCHMIEDEL  S    "FOUNDATION-PILLARS  3$ 

healed  them.  And  he  marveled  because  of 
their  unbelief.     Mark  6 :  5-6. 

(8)  The  blind  receive  their  sight,  and  the  lame  W2dk, 

the  lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the  deaf  hear,  and 
the  dead  are  raised  up,  and  the  poor  have  good 
tidings  preached  to  them.     Matt.  11  : 2-6.    v.  5. 

(9)  And  Jesus  said  unto  them,  Take    heed  and  be- 

ware of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sad- 
ducees.     Matt.  16:  5-12.     v.  6. 
2.  Passages  "  of  the  same  truthful  nature,"  indicating  "  in  what 
his  greatness  consisted." 

(10)  For  he  taught  them  as  one  having  authority,  and 

not  as  their  scribes.     Matt.  7  :  29. 

(11)  And  he  came  forth  and  saw  a  great  multitude,  and 

he  had  compassion  on  them,  because  they  were 
as  sheep  not  having  a  shepherd :  and  he  began 
to  teach  them  many  things.     Mark  6  :  34. 

(12)  Come  unto   me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy 

laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.     Matt.  1 1 :  28. 

I.   In  Schmiedel's  first  passage  there  are  to  be  Passages 
seen  at  least  the  downnVht  earnestness  of  the  life  bearing  on 

*=•  Jesus   char- 

of  Jesus,  and  especially  his  sense  of  the  necessity  acter  as  a 
of  moral  and  spiritual  independence,  even  against  ^°^^" 
the  attempted  dictation  of   those  near  and   dear.  31-35- 
This  is  certainly  involved  in  his  words,  "  For  who- 
soever shall  do  the  will  of  God,  the  same  is  my 
brother,   and   sister,   and   mother."      Herrmann's 
words  might  be  quoted  as  an  almost  direct  com- 
ment upon  this  passage  (Mark  3  :  31-35) :  "  Mental 
and  spiritual  fellowship  among  men,  and  mental 
and  spiritual  independence  on  the  part  of  the  in- 
dividual —  that  is  what  we  can  ourselves  recognize 
to  be  prescribed  to  us  by  the  moral  law."      "Reli- 


36  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

gious  tradition  is  indispensable  for  us.  But  it  helps 
us  only  if  it  leads  us  on  to  listen  to  what  God  says 
to  ourselves."  ^  That  is  to  say,  every  soul  must 
come  into  a  moral  and  spiritual  life  of  his  own^  be 
absolutely  true  to  his  own  best  light,  do  what  is 
for  him  now  "the  will  of  God"  (v.  35).  Only  so 
can  he  come  into  kinship  with  the  spirit  of  Jesus. 
Jesus  here  plainly  indicates  that  spiritual  dictation 
by  another  may  become  a  sore  temptation,  but  it 
must  be  resisted  at  any  cost.  It  is  striking  that 
in  this  first  passage  of  Schmiedel's  there  should 
come  out  so  unmistakably  this  absolutely  funda- 
mental moral  principle  of  the  necessity  of  moral 
and  spiritual  independence,  of  life  in  oneself. 
There  is  plainly  to  be  seen  here,  too,  an  absolutely 
ethical  conception  of  religion,  as  well  as  the  reli- 
gious conception  of  the  ethical  life.  The  sum  of 
life  is  doing  the  will  of  God.  ^  There  is  no  slightest 
suggestion  of  the  possibility  of  a  true  religious 
relation  to  God  except  in  this  ethically  obedient 
conduct ;  and  yet  duty  is  thought  of  as  no  mere 
abstraction,  but  as  the  will  of  the  personal  God. 
Mark  2.    Schmiedel's  sccond  passage  —  "Of  that  day 

^^  •  2^*  or  that  hour  knoweth  no  one,  not  even  the  angels 

in  heaven,  neither  the  Son,  but  the  Father "  — 
occurs  in  the  eschatological  discourse  as  given  in 
Mark,  and  seems  not  only  to  show  a  sense  of  limi- 
tation of  knowledge  at  a  certain  point,  but  also 
clearly  to  imply  a  consciousness   on  the   part  of 

'^  Faith  and  Morals,  pp.  129-130,  192. 

2Cf.  Briggs,  The  Ethical  Teaching  of  Jesus,  pp.  34  ff. 


SCHMIEDEL  S    "  FOUNDATION-PILLARS  3/ 

Jesus  of  unique  relation  to  God ;  but  it  contains  no 
direct  ethical  suggestion. 

3.  Schmiedel's  inference  from  the  third  passage  Mark 
—  "Why  callest  thou  me  good  ?  none  is  good  save  ^°  *  ^^' 
one,  even  God  "  —  "  that  Jesus  refused  to  allow  the 
epithet   *good'  to  be  applied   to  him,"  seems  to 
prove  a  little  too  much  even  for  Schmiedel's  pur- 
pose.    The  saying   seems   rather  to  reflect  again 

the  deep  earnestness  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  answering 
as  he  so  often  did  the  question  which  was  back  in 
the  inquirer's  mind.  There  was  to  be  no  bandying 
of  compliments ;  he  wishes  to  bring  the  man  into 
an  absolutely  honest  attitude  at  once,  an  attitude 
in  which  he  was  not  idly  to  ascribe  goodness  to  any 
one.  It  indicates,  also,  Jesus'  sense  of  the  holiness 
of  God,  as  the  one  great  source  of  life  and  charac- 
ter;^ and  the  rebuke  contains,  thus,  in  itself,  a 
partial  answer  to  the  young  man's  question  as  to 
eternal  life.  Jesus  is  reminding  him  of  the  match- 
less purity  of  the  true  standard  of  holiness  in  God, 
and  that  must  mean  that,  in  earnest  seeking  after 
eternal  life,  there  must  be  no  paltering  with  ideals 
in  false  and  easy  compromise.  The  remainder  of 
the  incident,  as  given  in  Mark,  carries  out  this 
point  of  view. 

4.  Upon    the    passage    concerning  blasphemy  Matt. 
against  the   Son  of  man,  Schmiedel  says  that  it  ^^  *  ^^' 
shows  that  Jesus  "  attached  importance  not  to  his 

own  person,  but  simply  to  the  Holy  Spirit;  in  other 
words,  to  the  sacred  cause  which  he  represented."  ^ 

^Cf.  Martensen,  Christian  Ethics,  pp.  61  ff.         2  op.  cit.,  p.  23. 


38  THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

And  if  one  is  to  take  the  context  into  account,  that 
certainly  does  show  that  Jesus  is  thinking  of  that 
bHndness  of  prejudice  which  will  not  recognize  a 
good  work  as  good,  which  will  not  trust  its  own 
instinctive  moral  judgments,  —  that  essential  false- 
ness of  character  which  is  absolutely  recreant  to  the 
inner  light,  which  puts  out  its  own  eyes,  puts  dark- 
ness for  light  in  ascribing  good  to  evil.  This  is 
blasphemy  against  the  very  Spirit  of  holiness  and 
truth,  where  the  distinctions  of  good  and  evil  are 
gone.  Jesus  sees  this  as  a  fatal  sin,  as  moral  sui- 
cide, —  in  Mark's  language,  as  being  "guilty  of  an 
eternal  sin."  This  passage  is  Hke  the  first,  then, 
in  its  insistence  on  truth  to  oneself,  on  fidelity  to 
the  inner  light.  The  warning  is,  thus,  not  against 
some  fantastic  form  of  profanity,  but  against  that 
blind  prejudice,  that  supreme  devotion  to  external 
rules  and  ends,  that  obtuseness  of  mind  and  heart, 
that  playing  fast  and  loose  with  one's  conscience, 
which  blur  the  moral  and  spiritual  vision,  blurring 
all  distinctions,  until  one  loses  the  sense  of  dis- 
cerning between  righteousness  and  wickedness, 
and  excuses  and  follows  evil  as  good.  The  pas- 
sage is  a  most  solemn  call  to  utter  truth  to  our  own 
best  vision,  without  sophisticating  excuses.^ 
Mark  5.    Upon  the  very  difficult  passage —  **  My  God, 

IS  :  34.  j^y  Qod,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  "  —  one  may 

certainly  say,  with  Schmiedel,  that,  as  indicating  a 

1  Cf.  W.  T.  Davison,  art.  "Forgiveness,"  D.  C.  G.,  p.  617:  "The 
only  sin  thus  pronounced  unpardonable  is  that  of  wilful  and  per- 
sistent sinning  against  light  till  light  itself  is  turned  into  darkness." 


SCHMIEDEL  S    "  FOUNDATION-PILLARS  39 

moment  of  desperate  darkness  on  Jesus'  part,  the 
saying  is  not  likely  to  have  been  fabricated ;  it  is 
impossible  to  imagine  its  being  gratuitously  as- 
cribed to  Jesus  later.  And  in  this  very  fact  we 
may  see  evidence  of  the  greater  trustworthiness  of 
the  narrative,  of  the  unusual  degree  in  which  it 
may  be  regarded  as  objective.  Schmiedel  himself 
is  unwilling  to  admit  that  this  saying  on  the  cross 
shows  that  "  Jesus  died  in  despair."  "  Can  we 
really  be  sure,"  he  says,  *'  that  these  words  indi- 
cate an  abandonment  of  all  that  gave  Jesus  strength 
and  stay  during  his  life  ^  Do  we  really  know  so 
precisely  what  they  mean  ?  "  ^  The  incident  does 
have  undoubted  difficulties,  and  we  may  not  be  able 
wholly  to  explain  it.  In  any  case  the  whole  ex- 
planation does  not  belong  here.  But,  whatever 
the  explanation,  the  cry  at  least  shows  the  reality 
of  his  life  and  struggle,  that  it  was  no  drama,  no 
play-life  ;  it  feels  real,  and  it  is  real.  However  we 
are  to  adjust  our  formulations  of  Jesus'  nature,  the 
reality  of  his  life  and  struggle  cannot  be  denied. 
He  has  a  bitter  fight  to  make,  a  calling  to  fulfill,  a 
trust  to  which  he  must  not  prove  recreant.  The 
cry  shows  him  in  the  midst  of  his  soul  struggle, 
suddenly  confronted  with  the  experience  of  the 
apparently  hidden  face  of  God.  The  incident  also 
indicates  that,  in  spite  of  this  awful  sense  of  deso- 
lation, there  is  no  faltering  of  purpose.  He  is  to 
be  absolutely  true  to  the  end,  even  when  he  can- 
not longer  see  God.  The  startled,  astonished  cry 
1  (9/.  «V.,  pp.  50, 51. 


40 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


bearing  on 
miracle- 
working. 


Mark 
8  :  12. 


implies,  too,  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  living  in  the 
strong  sense  of  the  presence  of  God.^ 

With  this  passage  we  turn  from  those  which 
Schmiedel  regards  as  throwing  "light  on  Jesus' 
character  as  a  whole"  to  those  which  *'have  a 
special  bearing  on  his  character  as  a  worker  of 
wonders." 

6.  The  passage  —  *'There  shall  no  sign  be  given  " 
—  Schmiedel  interprets  as  meaning,  "  that  on  prin- 
ciple he  declined  to  work  a  sign,  that  is  to  say, 
to  do  something  which  seemed  to  be  a  miracle, 
when  this  was  to  be  done  with  the  purpose  of 
proving  his  divine  right."  ^ 

With  this  judgment  of  Schmiedel  I  wholly 
agree.  It  is  most  significant  that  this  saying 
should  be  preserved  in  spite  of  the  record  of  mir- 
acles. It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  it  indicates 
a  fundamental  principle  upon  which  Jesus  con- 
stantly acted, — the  principle  of  the  necessary 
inwardness  of  the  moral  and  religious  life,  and  the 
consequent  necessity  of  perpetually  observing  rev- 
erence for  the  person.     The  context  shows  that 


iCf.  The  Creed  of  Christ,  p.  193. 

2  Op.  cit,  pp.  23-24.  Schmiedel  is  probably  correct  in  recognizing 
the  accuracy  of  Luke's  version  here —  "There  shall  no  sign  be  given 
to  it  but  the  sign  of  Jonah,"  etc.  (Luke  11 :  29-30),  and  in  rejecting 
Matt.  12:40  as  an  added  clause,  due  to  misunderstanding.  The 
very  point  of  the  refusal  of  the  sign  would  seem,  otherwise,  to  be 
lost.  Jesus  seems  to  have  been  struck  with  the  fact  that  Jonah 
gave  no  sign  of  his  message  from  God ;  he  only  spoke  directly  to 
the  reason  and  conscience  of  the  Ninevites  in  his  warning.  He 
made  only  the  inner  appeal. 


schmiedel's  V  foundation-pillars  "        41 

the  saying  is  called  out  by  the  fact  that  the  Phari- 
sees are  seeking  some  overwhelming,  external  test 
that  they  can  tie  to ;  even  Jesus'  works  of  healing 
do  not  satisfy  them.  He  refuses  to  submit  to  such 
a  test,  or  to  defend  his  claims  in  that  way.  Why  ? 
He  is  seeking  to  bring  men  into  a  moral  and  spir- 
itual life  of  their  own.  His  kingdom,  in  his  con- 
ception, can  only  so  come.  In  that  kingdom 
every  man  is  an  elector.  Nothing  is  achieved 
without  this  inward  moral  and  spiritual  life.  This 
sense  of  the  inevitable  inwardness  of  the  moral 
and  spiritual  life  necessarily  leads  to  constant  rev- 
erence, on  the  part  of  Jesus,  for  the  person,  and 
to  the  habitual  way  in  which  he  distinctly  subor- 
dinates all  miracle  working  to  his  moral  and  reli- 
gious mission.  ^ 

7.  To  the  same  principle  the  next  passage —  Mark 
"He  could  do  there  no  mighty  work" — also  bears  '  ^~  * 
witness.  Even  his  work  of  healing  goes  forward 
on  moral  conditions,  on  faith ;  it  is  no  mere  magic. 
Just  as  is  implied  in  the  narrative  of  the  tempta- 
tions, so  in  this  particular  case  all  the  rest  of  his 
work  is  to  be  subordinated  to  the  moral  and  spir- 
itual. The  passage  clearly  indicates,  too,  that 
Jesus  was  not  relieved  from  the  conditions  that 
beset  similar  work  of  other  men  ;  for  him,  too, 
some  receptivity  was  requisite.     What  he  can  do 

1  Cf.  Bennett,  Life  of  Christ  According  to  St.  Mark,  pp.  25  ff . ; 
Harnack,  What  is  Christianity?  p.  28;  Matheson,  Studies  in  the 
Portrait  of  Christ,  \o\.  I,  pp.  173  ff.;  Bruce,  The  Training  of  the 
Twelve,  p.  156. 


42  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

for  men  depends  also  upon  them.     God    himself 
ca.nnot/orce  moral  choice  and  spiritual  growth  and 
attainment  upon  men. 
i^att.  ^-    I^    1^'k^   manner,   Jesus'   answer   to    John's 

II :  2-6.  question  —  "  Art  thou  he  that  cometh,  or  look  we 
for  another  .?  "  —  shows  that  Jesus  is  not  relieved 
from  conditions  like  ours.  He  had  here  to  face 
the  distrust  of  a  previous  warm  friend.  Schmiedel, 
rather  curiously  and  inconsistently,  makes  this  pas- 
sage an  argument  against  the  reality  of  the  works 
of  healing.  It  would  have  been  more  consistent 
with  his  own  emphasis,  just  referred  to,  if  he 
had  seen  that,  in  the  evidence  for  his  mission  to 
which  Christ  appeals,  he  makes  it  a  culminating 
proof,  beyond  all  works  of  healing,  that  **  the  poor 
have  good  tidings  preached  to  them."  Above  all 
works  of  wonder  is  this  work  of  bringing  good 
tidings  to  the  poor.  The  best  proof  of  his  Mes- 
siahship  is,  thus,  in  the  thought  of  Jesus,  moral 
and  spiritual,  and  the  appeal  is  once  more  to  the 
inner  vision  ;  and  this  seems  plainly  to  be  the 
point,  too,  of  the  last  verse  of  the  passage  — 
"  Blessed  is  he,  whosoever  shall  find  no  occasion  of 
stumbling  in  me." 
Matt.  9-    Schmiedel's  next  passage,  so  far  as  it  bears 

i6 :  S-I2.  on  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  has  its  significance 
almost  wholly  in  the  sixth  verse  —  "  Take  heed 
and  beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and 
Sadducees."  This  passage  indicates  that,  at  least 
in  the  mind  of  Jesus,  his  teaching  is  set  over  against 
the  teaching  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  in  plain 


SCHMIEDEL  S    "FOUNDATION-PILLARS  43 

contrast.  Their  teaching  is  not  even  to  be  con- 
sidered a  supplement  of  his  ;  no  compromise  seems 
to  him  really  possible.  In  some  sense,  at  least, 
his  teaching  is  thought  of  as  new,  and  revolution- 
ary of  the  common  standards.  He  seeks  to  build 
up  a  discipleship  characterized  by  another  spirit. 
This  passage  does  not  indicate  in  w^hat  the  con- 
trast consists,  but  does  make  the  contrast  itself 
unmistakable.^ 

lo.    The  first   of   the   three  added  passages  of  Passages 
Schmiedel,  intended  to  make  clear  in  what  Tesus'  showing  in 

•'  what  Jesus 

greatness   consists,  emphasizes  the  evident   strik-  greatness 
ing  impression  of  authority  in  his  speech,  as  con-  ^°'^^^^^^- 
trasted   with   the  dependence  on  tradition  shown 
by  the  scribes. 

This  impression  of  authority,  of  course,  exactly  Matt, 
matches  Jesus'  own  insistence  on  the  necessary  7:29- 
inwardness  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  life.  He 
speaks  out  of  such  a  life,  and  therefore  with  con- 
viction and  with  the  impression  of  authority. 
And  it  is  impossible  to  run  even  cursorily  over  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  in  Matthew,  to  which  this 
saying  is  attached,  without  seeing  how  this  im- 
pression of  spiritual  authority  must  have  been 
given.  In  these  sayings  his  own  view  is  set  in 
fearless  contrast  to  the  spirit  of  the  times ;  he 
trusts  completely  his  own  insights  and  dares  ex- 
press them.  Here  are  spiritual  discoveries  of 
qualities  counted  by  him  essential  to  character  and 
happiness  and  influence,  which  men  had  scarcely 

1  Cf.  Eaton,  art.  "  Pharisees,"  H.  D.  B.,  p.  828. 


,   >^     OF   THE 

iiMivPRSlTY 


44  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

recognized.  Here  Jesus  undertakes  to  judge  even 
as  to  the  law,  the  oracles  of  God,  and  makes  him- 
self standard  and  judge  of  conduct. 

And  it  is  equally  plain  that  the  authority  which 
Jesus  here  claims  is  not  external,  but  is  due  to  his 
own  inner  appeal  to  the  reason  and  conscience  of 
man,  to  the  self-evidencing  power  of  his  words. 
His  religion,  in  this  sense,  is  not  at  all  a  religion 
of  authority,  but  of  the  spirit,  as  Sabatier  has  con- 
tended ;  1  he  does  not  wish  to  lay  down  even  his  own 
commands  as  rules  from  outside ;  if  even  they  are 
to  be  of  value,  they  must  become  self-legislation, 
laid  down  for  every  man  from  within.  But  in 
this  deeper,  inner  sense,  his  teaching  still  makes 
this  same  impression  of  authority,  and  he  has, 
just  for  this  reason,  become  the  supreme  moral 
and  spiritual  authority  (in  the  scientific  sense  of  the 
word)  of  the  world,  our  personalized  conscience,  our 
best  guide.  We  hardly  realize  the  greatness  of  the 
gift  to  the  race  that  is  to  be  found  in  such  an  ideal 
as  he  both  shows  and  teaches. 
Mark  II.    The  sccond  quality  in  which  Schmiedcl  finds 

^  •  34-  the  greatness  of  Jesus  is  compassion^  as  reflected  in 

the  words  —  "  And  he  came  forth  and  saw  a  great 
multitude,  and  he  had  compassion  on  them,  be- 
cause they  were  as  sheep  not  having  a  shepherd, 
and  he  began  to  teach  them  many  things."  Here 
it  seems  evident  that  Jesus  must  have  given  the 

1  Religions  of  Authority  and  the  Religion  of  the  Spirit,  bks.  I  and 
II,  pp.  viii,  xxxi,  xx-xxii;  cf.  Foster,  The  Finality  of  the  Christian 
Religion,  ch.  IV. 


schmiedel's  "foundation-pillars"        45 

impression  of  a  mighty  understanding  pity  for 
men  as  preeminently  characteristic  of  him,  —  the 
sense  of  an  unbounded,  unHmited  compassion  for 
the  multitude,  for  men  as  men.  This  compassion 
is  thought  of  as  steadily  characteristic  of  Jesus, 
and  it  is  indeed  his  great  contribution  to  the  spir- 
itual convictions  of  the  race,  —  the  deep  sense  of  the 
value  of  all  men  as  men,  as  all  alike  children  of  God, 
and  so  calling  out  his  great  compassion.  The  reason 
for  his  compassion  in  this  passage  is  found  in  their 
likeness  to  sheep  gone  astray  from  pasture  and 
fold,  having  no  shepherd,  without  guiding  faith 
and  convictions,  with  no  key  to  life's  secret,  no 
clear  way  into  life,  missing  everywhere  life's  best, 
seeking  life  in  desert  places,  missing  happiness, 
missing  the  great  springs  of  character,  missing 
significant  lives  of  achievement  and  influence.  The 
passage  implies,  at  the  same  time,  Jesus*  own 
sense  of  the  possession  of  life's  secret,  —  that  he 
has  much  to  give  them.  He  has  the  great  good 
news,  he  needs  only  to  share  with  them  his  own 
secret,  and  therefore  he  "  began  to  teach  them 
many  things."  In  this  passage,  then,  we  have 
as  the  ground  for  reverence  for  Christ  his  great 
boundless,  but  intelligent,  compassion  for  men. 

12.    Schmiedel's  last  passage  is  the  great  invita-  Matt. 
tion  —  "Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are   ^^  =  28. 
heavy  laden."     This  passage  has  in  it  the  sense 
of  authority  of  the  first  of  these  three  added  pas- 
sages, and  the  boundless  compassion  of  the  second, 
coupled  once  more  with  the  sense  of  the  ability  to 


46 


THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 


Schmiedel's 
inferences. 


Our  own 

ethical 

inferences. 


give  rest  to  all  men  ;  and  it  seems  hardly  possible 
to  avoid  in  this  passage  also  the  impression  that  he 
feels  that  what  he  has  to  give  is  connected  with  him 
personally,  that  he  feels  a  unique  relation  to  men 
that  goes  back  to  a  sense  of  unique  mission  from  God. 

When  one  tries,  now,  to  summarize  the  infer- 
ences from  these  "  foundation-pillar  "  passages  of 
Schmiedel,  he  may  note,  in  the  first  place,  that 
Schmiedel's  own  treatment  emphasizes  the  com- 
plete trustworthiness  of  these  passages,  as  well  as 
much  else;  namely:  the  entire  earnestness  and 
genuineness  of  Jesus,  his  subordination  of  all  else 
in  his  work  to  the  moral  and  spiritual,  his  own  great 
qualities  and  claims  growing  out  of  an  experi- 
ence that  forces  him  to  believe  he  is  Messiah,  in 
Schmiedel's  judgment,^  and  yet  the  conviction  that 
Jesus  lived  a  truly  human  life. 

Studying  these  passages  from  a  different  point 
of  view,  not  to  get  the  foundations  for  a  scientific 
life  of  Jesus,  but  for  their  bearing  on  his  ethical 
teaching,  our  own  study  has  given  us  these  main 
inferences :  — 

In  the  first  passage  (Mark  3:21,  31-35)  we  noted 
Jesus*  downright  earnestness,  his  insistence  on  the 
necessity  of  moral  and  spiritual  independence,  on 
the  inwardness  of  the  spiritual  life,  and  upon  reli- 
gion as  essentially  ethical. 

The  second  passage  (Mark  13  :  32)  has  no  direct 
ethical  teaching,  but  implies  Jesus'  sense  of  unique 
knowledge  and  mission. 

1  Op,  cit.y  p.  46. 


SCHMIEDEL's    "  FOUNDATION-PILLARS  "  4/ 

The  third  passage  (Mark  io:i8,  "Why  callest 
thou  me  good? ")  shows  again  the  earnestness  of 
Jesus,  his  reverent  sense  of  the  holiness  of  God,  and 
(in  the  context)  his  ethical  conception  of  religion. 

The  fourth  passage,  as  to  blasphemy  against  the 
Spirit  (Matt.  12  :  32),  shows  his  insistence  upon  the 
seriousness  of  life,  upon  genuineness  and  truth  to 
the  inner  light  as  absolutely  essential,  and  again 
suggests  a  radically  ethical  conception  of  religion. 

The  fifth  passage  (Mark  15  :  34,  *'  My  God,  my 
God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  .-* ")  we  cannot  be 
sure  that  we  are  able  to  fathom ;  but  it  shows  at 
least  the  reality  of  Jesus*  life  and  struggle,  his 
earnestness  again,  since  there  is  no  suspicion  of 
faltering,  and  his  usually  constant  sense  of  the 
presence  of  God. 

These  five  passages,  then,  bearing,  as  Schmiedel 
says,  on  Jesus'  "  character  as  a  whole,"  show,  on 
the  ethical  side,  his  earnestness,  genuineness,  and 
moral  and  spiritual  independence,  his  demand  for 
the  same  qualities  in  others,  and  his  essentially 
ethical  conception  of  religion. 

Of  the  next  four  passages  (in  Schmiedel's  classi- 
fication, dealing  with  Jesus'  "  character  as  a  worker 
of  wonders"),  the  first  (Mark  8:12)  emphasizes 
again  the  necessary  inwardness  of  the  moral  and 
spiritual  life,  and  Jesus'  reverence  for  the  person. 

The  second  (Mark  6 :  5-6,  "  He  could  do  there 
no  mighty  work")  shows  that  all  his  work  was 
subordinated  to  the  moral  and  spiritual,  and  illus- 
trates his  confidence  in  his  own  mission. 


48  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

The  third  (Matt.  1 1  :  2-6,  his  answer  to  John's 
question)  indicates  his  supreme  estimate  of  the 
ethical  and  simply  religious,  the  climax  of  the 
most  marvelous  works  being  found  in  the  simple 
preaching  of  the  gospel  to  the  poor. 

The  last  passage  in  this  group  (Matt.  16:5-12, 
*'  Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees,")  indicates 
Jesus'  sense  of  the  contrast  of  his  teaching  with  the 
prevailing  teaching,  that  in  some  real  sense  his 
teaching  is  new  and  revolutionary,  and  that  he 
must  seek  a  discipleship  characterized  by  another 
spirit  than  that  of  either  Pharisees  or  Sadducees. 

Throughout  this  second  group  there  is,  thus,  to 
be  clearly  felt  Jesus'  deep  and  fundamental  convic- 
tion of  the  supremacy  of  the  ethical  and  of  the 
simply  religious,  even  in  the  midst  of  the  work 
of  healing. 

In  Schmiedel's  last  group,  showing  "  in  what  his 
greatness  consisted,"  the  first  passage  (Matt.  7 :  29) 
emphasizes  his  impression  of  authority^  and  the 
sources  of  that  impression  of  authority  are  evinced 
in  the  sermon  to  which  this  passage  is  attached. 
The  impression  throughout  evidently  grows  out  of 
his  own  manifest  conviction,  his  clear  insight,  his 
experience  in  the  moral  and  spiritual  world,  and 
his  sense  of  mission. 

The  second  passage  (Mark  6  :  34)  emphasizes  his 
great  compassion  for  all  men,  as  constantly  charac- 
teristic of  him,  and  implies  upon  his  own  part  the 
sense  of  the  possession  of  the  secret  of  life  which 
he  would  share  with  men. 


SCHMIEDEL  S    "  FOUNDATION-PILLARS  49 

And  the  third  passage  (Matt,  ii  :  28),  the  great 
invitation,  evinces  the  same  sense  of  power,  the 
same  compassion,  and  a  like  sense  of  unique  rela- 
tion and  mission  to  men. 

The   inferences   from   Schmiedel's   twelve   pas-  The  infer- 
sages  as  a  whole,  arranged   in  a  kind  of   logical  wicluy 
order,  might  be  said  to  be  as  follows  :  —  arranged. 

(i)  The  earnestness  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  and  the 
demand  for  like  earnestness  in  others,  no  frivo- 
lousness  of  life.     Passages  i,  3,  4,  5.^ 

(2)  Absolute  genuineness^  integrity  of  life,  truth 
to  the  inner  light,  as  essential ;  falseness,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  fatal  sin.     Passages  4,  5  ;  cf.  9.^ 

(3)  The  necessary  inwardness  of  all  true  moral 
and  spiritual  life ;  the  insistence  upon  moral  and 
spiritual  independence;  that  all  else  in  one's  life 
must  be  subordinate  to  the  moral  and  spiritual. 
Passages   1,6;  cf.  9,  10.^ 

1  Cf.  Ecce  Homo,  p.  299. 

2  Cf.  Schmidt,  The  Prophet  of  Nazareth,  p.  3CX);  Bousset,  Jesus, 
p.  139,  —  "His  passion  for  truth  and  reality";  Herrmann,  Faith 
and  Morals,  pp.  132  ff.;  Royce,  7^he  Philosophy  of  Loyalty,  pp.  67, 
68,  112  ff.,  121  ff.,  357. 

3Cf.  Patrick,  art.  "  Apostles,"  D.  C.  G.,  p.  109:  "  Not  less  evident 
was  his  desire  that  the  Apostles  should  not  be  mere  echoes  of  him- 
self, but  men  of  originality,  courage,  and  resource."  Kilpatrick, 
art.  "  Character  of  Christ,"  D.  C.  G.,  pp.  287,  292 :  "  His  teaching, 
therefore,  is  inexhaustible,  begetting,  in  the  process  of  studying  it, 
the  faculty  of  ethical  insight,  and  continuously  raising,  in  the  effort 
to  practice  it,  the  standard  of  the  moral  judgment."  "  With  his 
idea  of  man,  and  his  conception  of  his  vocation,  it  was  impos- 
sible for  Jesus  to  regard  human  personality  as  other  than  sacred." 
Herrmann,  Faith  and  Morals,  pp.  229  ff.  "  It  is  certain  that  he 
who  fought  against  nothing  so  vehemently  as  the  divided  state  of 


50  THE    ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

(4)  The  resulting  fundamental  principle  of  rever- 
ence for  the  person.     Passages  i,  6,  7,  8.^ 

(5)  The  ethical  conception  of  religion^  and  also 
the  religious  conception  of  the  ethical.  Jesus' 
own  work  is  thought  of  as  primarily  moral  and 
spiritual.  Passages  3,  4,  6,  7,  8.^  With  this  is  to 
be  closely  connected 

(6)  Jesus*  sense  of  the  contrast  of  his  teaching 
with  that  of  his  times.     Passages  4,  8,  9,  10,  11,  \2? 

mind  of  insincere  men,  never  wished  to  entice  others  by  words  of 
his  into  a  mere  external  doing  "  (p.  183).  See  also  pp.  129,  180  ff., 
190,  384.  Philochristus,  p.  140.  Dale  does  not  seem  wholly  to 
escape  the  idea  of  external  obedience,  in  his  chapter  "  On  Obeying 
Christ,"  in  Laws  of  Christ  for  Common  Life^  pp.  273  ff.  The  Creed 
of  Christ,  pp.  27  fT. ;  Peabody,  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Christian  Char- 
acter, pp.  39,  75,  99;  "Wendt,  The  Teaching  of  Jesus,  vol.  I,  pp. 
265  ff.,  277  ff.;   Swete,  Studies  in  the  Teaching  of  Our  Lord,  p.  61. 

1  How  fundamental  this  principle  is  with  Jesus  will  appear  as 
the  discussion  goes  forward.  Cf.  Bartlet,  art.  "  Teaching  of  Jesus," 
D.  C.  G.,  pp.  701,  704,  705  :  "  In  all  his  sayings  and  doings  our  Lord 
was  most  careful  to  leave  the  individual  room  to  grow."  "  He  cher- 
ishes and  respects  personality."  (Quoted  from  Latham,  Pastor 
Pastorum.)  Rowland,  art.  "  Personality,"  D.  C.  G.,  p.  343;  Willia, 
art.  "  Accommodation,"  D.  C.  G.,  p.  21 ;  Kilpatrick,  art,  "  Character 
of  Christ,"  D.  C.  G.,  pp.  287,  292.  Cf.  Ecce  Homo,  pp.  1 55  ff. ;  Herr- 
mann, Faith  and  Morals,  pp.  180  ff".,  182,  229,  384;  Mackenzie, 
A  Manual  of  Ethics,  pp.  138,  195  ff.,  202;  Nash,  Ethics  and  Reve- 
lation, pp.  252-258;  "  With  infinite  self-restraint  He  must  respect 
the  individuality  of  his  children,"  p.  253. 

2  Cf.  Gardner,  Exploratio  Evangelica,  pp.  13  AT.,  17, 22, 192  ff.,  512; 
Harnack,  What  is  Christianity?,  pp.  75  ff.;  Clouston,  The  Hygiene 
of  Mind,  p.  191;  Bowne,  The  Principles  of  Ethics,  pp.  200-204; 
Harris,  Moral  Evolution,  pp.  237-238;  Forrest,  The  Christ  of 
History  and  Experience,  pp.  112  ff.,  132  flf.,  318. 

8  This  is  nowhere,  perhaps,  brought  out  more  strongly  than  in 
the  anonymous  The  Creed  of  Christ,  pp.  25,  27  flf.,  *'  systematic 


SCHMIEDEL  S    "FOUNDATION-PILLARS  5  I 

(7)  His  own  deep  and  characteristic  compass ion^ 
carrying  with  it  a  demand  for  a  like  spirit  in  others. 
Passages  ii,  12,  8. 

(8)  Jesus*  sense  of  insight,  conviction,  message, 
calling.     Passages  7,  8,  10,  11,  12. 

(9)  His  sense  of  unique  relation  to  God  and  men, 
of  possessing  the  message  of  life  for  men.  Pas- 
sages 2,  5,  7,  8,  9,  II,  12.1 

(10)  The  resulting  impression  of  authority. 
Passage  10;  cf.  12.2 

It  is  particularly  worth  noting  how  much  of  Conclusion, 
fundamental  ethical  teaching  is  involved  in  even 
this  short  list  of  passages ;  though  they  were  chosen 
by  Schmiedel  not  for  their  ethical  content  at  all, 
but  only  as  of  peculiar  trustworthiness,  because  at 
some  point  at  variance  with  the  common  point  of 
view  of  the  narrator.  These  exceptional  passages 
evidently  are  able  to  furnish  a  valuable  criterion 
for  the  ethical  teaching  of  Jesus.     Nearly  all  these 

externalization  " ;  cf.  Mathews,  Messianic  Hope  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, pp.  108,  109,  —  "Broke  utterly  with  Pharisaism  as  a  system," 
p.  108;  cf.  Harnack,  What  is  Christianity  ?,  p.  238;  Swete,  op.  cit., 
pp.  19  ff.;  Stevens,  Teaching  of  Jesus,  p.  94;  Briggs,  The  Ethi- 
cal Teaching  of  Jesus,  pp.  167  ff.;  Bruce,  The  Training  of  the 
Twelve,  pp.  69  ff.,  155  ff.;  Rauschenbusch,  Christianity  and  the 
Social  Crisis,  pp.  71  ff.,  cf.  ch.  IV,  "Why  has  Christianity  never 
Undertaken  the  Work  of  Social  Reconstruction?";  Ecce  Homo, 
pp.  286  ff. 

^  Swete,  op.  cit.,  pp.  26  ff. ;  Stevens,  Teaching  of  Jesus,  pp.  99  ff. ; 
Sanday,  The  Life  of  Christ  in  Recent  Research,  pp.  193  ff. 

2  Harnack,  What  is  Christianity?,  p.  51;  Forrest,  The  Christ  of 
History  and  of  Experience,  pp.  52  ff.;  Swete,  op.  cit.,  pp.  16  ff.,  64; 
Burkitt,  op.  cit.,  pp.  1 74  ff. ;  Fairbairn,  Studies  in  the  Life  of  Christ, 
p.  lOI. 


52 


THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


The  ethical 

doubly 

attested 

sayings  not 

already 

covered. 


inferences,  it  is  to  be  further  noted,  are,  in  the 
first  place,  virtually  ethical,  though  of  course  never 
excluding  the  religious.  In  the  second  place,  they 
imply  Jesus'  thought  of  himself  as  having  life  to 
give,  a  message  of  life ;  and  therefore,  in  the  third 
place,  all  point  forward  to  some  further  content  in 
the  teaching  of  Jesus,  as  even  Schmiedel  himself 
sees. 

II.    The  doubly  attested  sayings 

For  a  portion  of  that  further  content  we  turn 
now  from  these  "foundation-pillar"  passages  of 
Schmiedel  to  the  "  doubly  attested  sayings "  of 
Jesus,  as  given  by  Burkitt, — those  sayings  which 
we  may  believe  to  be  found  not  only  in  Mark,  but 
also  in  the  other  common  source  of  Matthew  and 
Luke.  These  passages  may  be  said  to  include 
what  we  most  surely  know  of  the  teaching  of 
Jesus,  and  of  the  resulting  portrait  of  him. 

For  our  ethical  inferences  we  may  omit  from 
Burkitt's  list  the  passages  already  covered,  and 
those  that  are  non-ethical,  and  so  make  the  follow- 
ing seventeen  passages  the  basis  of  our  discussion, 
retaining  Burkitt's  numbers  for  convenience  of 
reference :  — 


I. 


8. 


Is  it  lawful  on  the  sabbath  day  to  do  good,  or  to  do  harm  ? 
to  save  a  life,  or  to  kill  ?     Mark  3:4. 

Is  the  lamp  brought  to  be  put  under  the  bushel,  or  under 
the  bed,  and  not  to  be  put  on  the  stand  ?     Mark  4:21. 

For  there  is  nothing  hid,  save  that  it  should  be  mani- 
fested ;  neither  was  anything  made  secret,  but  that  it 
should  come  to  light.     Mark  4 :  22. 

If  any  man  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear.     Mark  4 :  23. 


THE    DOUBLY   ATTESTED    SAYINGS  53 

10.  With  what  measure  ye  mete  it  shall  be  measured  unto 

you;  and  more  shall  be  given  unto  you.  Mark  4: 
24  b. 

1 1 .  For  he  that  hath,  to  him  shall  be  given :  and  he  that 

hath  not,  from  him  shall  be  taken  away  even  that 
which  he  hath.     Mark  4:25. 

12.  How  shall  we  liken  the  kingdom  of  God  ?  or  in  what 

parable  shall  we  set  it  forth  ?  It  is  like  a  grain  of 
mustard  seed,  which,  when  it  is  sown  upon  the  earth, 
though  it  be  less  than  all  the  seeds  that  are  upon  the 
earth,  yet  when  it  is  sown,  groweth  up,  and  becometh 
greater  than  all  the  herbs,  and  putteth  out  great 
branches ;  so  that  the  birds  of  the  heaven  can  lodge 
under  the  shadow  thereof.  Mark  4  :  30-32. 
14.  Wheresoever  ye  enter  into  a  house,  there  abide  till  ye 
depart  thence.  And  whatsoever  place  shall  not  re- 
ceive you,  and  they  hear  you  not,  as  ye  go  forth  thence, 
shake  off  the  dust  that  is  under  your  feet  for  a  testi- 
mony unto  them.     Mark  6:10-11. 

17.  If  any  man  would  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  him- 

self, and  take  up   his  cross  and  follow  me.     Mark 

8:34. 

18.  And  whosoever  shall  cause  one  of  these  little  ones  that 

believe  on  me  to  stumble,  it  were  better  for  him  if  a 
great  millstone  were  hanged  about  his  neck,  and  he 
were  cast  into  the  sea.     Mark  9  :  42. 

19.  And  if  thy  hand  cause  thee  to  stumble,  cut  it  off:  it  is 

good  for  thee  to  enter  into  life  maimed,  rather  than 
having  thy  two  hands  to  go  into  hell,  into  the  un- 
quenchable fire.  And  if  thy  foot  cause  thee  to  stumble, 
cut  it  off:  it  is  good  for  thee  to  enter  into  hfe  halt, 
rather  than  having  thy  two  feet  to  be  cast  into  hell. 
And  if  thine  eye  cause  thee  to  stumble,  cast  it  out :  it 
is  good  for  thee  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  with 
one  eye,  rather  than  having  two  eyes  to  be  cast  into 
hell  ;  where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not 
quenched.     Mark  9:43-48. 


54  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

20.  Salt  is  good :  but  if  the  salt  have  lost  its  saltness,  where- 

with will  ye  season  it  ?  Have  salt  in  yourselves,  and 
be  at  peace  with  one  another.     Mark  9 :  50. 

21.  Whosoever  shall  put  away  his  wife,  and  marry  another, 

committeth  adultery  against  her :  and  if  she  herself  shall 
put  away  her  husband,  and  marry  another,  she  com- 
mitteth adultery.     Mark  10:11-12. 

22.  Ye  know  that  they  who  are  accounted  to  rule  over  the 

Gentiles  lord  it  over  them ;  and  their  great  ones  ex- 
ercise authority  over  them.  But  it  is  not  so  among  you  : 
but  whosoever  would  become  great  among  you,  shall 
be  your  minister ;  and  whosoever  would  be  first  among 
you,  shall  be  servant  of  all.  For  the  Son  of  man  also 
came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to 
give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many.     Mark  10 :  42-45. 

27.  Beware  of  the  scribes,  who  desire  to  walk  in  long  robes, 

and  to  have  salutations  in  the  marketplaces,  and  chief 
seats  in  the  synagogues,  and  chief  places  at  feasts. 
Mark  12:38-39. 

28.  And  when  they  lead  you  to  judgment,  and  deliver  you 

up,  be  not  anxious  beforehand  what  ye  shall  speak : 
but  whatsoever  shall  be  given  you  in  that  hour,  that 
speak  ye ;  for  it  is  not  ye  that  speak,  but  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Mark  13: 11. 
31.  It  is  as  when  a  man,  sojourning  in  another  country,  hav- 
ing left  his  house,  and  given  authority  to  his  servants, 
to  each  one  his  work,  commanded  also  the  porter  to 
watch.  Watch  therefore:  for  ye  know  not  when  the 
lord  of  the  house  cometh,  whether  at  even,  or  at  mid- 
night, or  at  cockcrowing,  or  in  the  morning.  Mark 
13:34-35-^ 

1  In  his  discussion  of  the  doubly  attested  sayings,  Burkitt  prints 
a  list  of  thirty-one,  but  says  explicitly  that  number  26  (Mark  12: 
32-34  a),  dealing  with  the  summary  of  the  law,  while  at  first  glance 
a  doublet,  is  not  really  so.  And  the  sixth  saying  in  his  list  (Mark 
4 :  3-9) » the  parable  of  the  sower,  he  admits  can  be  put  into  Q  only 
by  conjecture ;  and  his  reasons  do  not  seem  to  be  convincing  for 


THE   DOUBLY   ATTESTED    SAYINGS  55 

As  one  reviews  the  passages  as  a  whole,  it  is  The  form 


plain  that  they  are  all  of  very  simple  character, 
almost  always  either  in  the  form  of  a  proverb  or 
condensed  parable.  They  are  sayings  of  the  kind 
that  would  be  most  certain  to  stick  in  the  memory, 

regarding  number  13  (Mark  6  :  4)  as  doubly  attested,  — the  passage 
**  A  prophet  is  not  without  honor,  save  in  his  own  country."  Of 
this  list  of  31,  also,  6  passages  (Burkitt's  numbers  2,  3,  4,  5,  15,  16) 
may  be  omitted  as  virtually  covered  already  in  the  discussion  of 
Schmiedel's  passages :  the  three  sayings  contained  in  the  Beelzebub 
passage,  and  the  sayings,  "  Whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  God,  the 
same  is  my  brother,  and  sister,  and  mother;  "  "  Why  doth  this 
generation  seek  a  sign?  "  "  Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees." 
(Mark  3:22-26;  Mark  3:27;  Mark  3:28-30;  Mark  3:31-34; 
Mark  8:  12b;  Mark  8:  15.)  Five  other  passages  may  be  omitted 
from  our  consideration  as  non-ethical,  —  numbers  23,  24,  25,  29, 
and  30.  (Mark  1 1 :  22-23,  24,  25 ;  Mark  13:  15-16;  Mark  13:  21.) 
These  passages  deal  with  prayer  and  with  the  coming  of  Christ. 

Not  all  these  doubly  attested  sayings  of  Burkitt  are  given  in  the 
various  reconstructions  of  Q  attempted  by  different  scholars;  but 
the  differences  from  Hawkins  and  Wendt  and  Wernle  and  Har- 
nack  are  not  to  be  pressed  too  far,  since  —  what  Burkitt  seems  to 
overlook  —  the  double  attestation  may  be  not  simply  by  Mark  and 
Q,  but  by  Mark  and  one  of  the  peculiar  sources;  and  one  scholar 
may  incline  to  put  the  saying  into  one  of  these  peculiar  sources 
where  another  would  put  it  into  Q.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however, 
seven  of  the  sayings,  those  numbered  by  Burkitt  8,  10,  14,  15,  17, 
20,  and  30,  all  these  four  scholars  agree  in  putting  into  Q.  Eight 
of  the  sayings,  numbers  3,  4,  7,  11,  12,  21,  23,  24,  all  but  one  of 
them  put  in  Q.  Eight  others  may  be  regarded  as  still  in  all  prob- 
ability doubly  attested,  —  and  in  every  case  at  least  one  other  scholar 
besides  Burkitt  puts  the  saying  into  Q,  —  Burkitt's  numbers  i,  9,  18, 
19,  22,  27,  28,  and  31. 

With  the  omissions  already  noted,  this  gives  seventeen  doubly 
attested  sayings,  in  all,  to  be  considered  for  their  ethical  teaching, 
Burkitt's  numbers  i,  7,  8,9,  10,  ii,  12,  14,  17,  18,  19,  20,  21,  22, 
27,  28,  and  31. 


of  the 
sayings. 


56 


THE   ETHICS    OF    JESUS 


Two  kinds 
of  sayings. 


Fundamen- 
tal laws  of 
life  in  the 
doubly 
attested 
sayings. 


and  they  have,  thus,  a  kind  of  internal  evidence  of 
being  exactly  the  sort  of  sayings  that  might  be 
expected  to  be  most  current,  and  therefore  most 
easily  doubly  attested. 

Burkitt  himself  has  a  suggestive  remark  upon 
the  sayings  that  deserves  a  moment's  consideration : 
"When  we  study  the  life  and  work  of  the  great 
personages  of  history  and  thought,  there  are  two 
distinct  things  that  we  should  desire  to  know  about 
them.  We  desire  to  know  their  deeper  teaching, 
to  see  and  recognize  the  first  formulation  of  some 
great  idea,  which  comes  new  and  strange  from  the 
brain  of  a  man  in  advance  of  his  time,  an  idea  per- 
haps not  destined  to  be  fully  understood  and  ap- 
preciated for  many  a  long  day.  But  we  need  also 
to  understand  the  impression  made  by  the  man  on 
his  contemporaries;  we  want  to  know  what  he 
stood  for  to  them,  as  well  as  what  he  stands 
for  to  us.  And  this  last  kind  of  knowledge  is 
the  most  necessary  for  us  to  have  when  we  are 
studying  those  who  are  great  because  of  the  in- 
fluence they  have  had  upon  the  general  course 
of  events,  not  only  because  of  what  they  wrote 
or  said."^ 

Burkitt  himself  believes  that  these  doubly  at- 
tested sayings  are  to  be  regarded  as  those  "  which 
impressed  his  followers  generally,"  which  showed 
"  what  was  the  main  impression  made  by  his  teach- 
ing." But  the  two  things  of  which  Burkitt  speaks 
are  plainly  not  necessarily  disassociated.     The  say- 

^  The  Gospel  History  and  Its  Transmission^  p.  167. 


THE    DOUBLY    ATTESTED    SAYINGS  5/ 

ings  which  the  teacher  regards  as  most  important 
are  pretty  certain  to  be  frequently  and  emphatically 
repeated,  and  to  be  put  into  such  form  as  to  be  re- 
tained in  the  memory,  although  they  may  come 
only  later  into  full  understanding  and  appreciation. 
One's  own  experience  must  be  evidence  of  the  way 
in  which  some  early  teaching  was  long  held  in 
memory,  not  because  its  significance  was  then 
clearly  understood,  but  simply  because  some  early 
teacher  made  it  so  emphatic.  And  in  the  case  of 
these  doubly  attested  sayings  of  Jesus,  I  think  we 
shall  find  clear  evidence  not  only  that  they  are 
those  teachings  which  most  impressed  the  disciples, 
but  that  they  not  less  clearly  include  as  well  prin- 
ciples which  must  have  been  absolutely  central  in 
Jesus*  own  thought.  The  very  use,  indeed,  of  a 
proverb  or  a  parable  seems  to  be  to  hold  in 
memory  and  before  the  mind  for  further  considera- 
tion truths  only  partly  comprehended.  We  may 
regard,  therefore,  these  doubly  attested  sayings  as 
a  kind  of  statement  on  Jesus'  part  of  at  least  many 
of  Xh.Q  fundamental  laws  of  life. 

We  are  to  turn,  then,  to  a  rapid  consideration  of 
seventeen  sayings  of  Jesus  that  may  be  regarded 
as  clearly  doubly  attested,  and  having  direct  ethi- 
cal bearing.  As  recurring  passages,  they  naturally 
supplement  the  exceptional  passages  of  Schmiedel, 
and  serve  as  a  still  more  certain  and  adequate  cri- 
terion for  the  entire  teaching  of  Jesus.  Certainly, 
in  combination  with  those  passages,  these  give  a 
basis  upon  which  we  may  securely  build. 


58  THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

Mark  I.   The   first    passage  —  "Is   it   lawful   on   the 

^  ■  '^'  Sabbath  day  to  do  good,  or  to  do  harm  ?  to  save 

a  life,  or  to  kill  ? "  —  grows  out  of  a  situation 
which  was  probably  intended  to  be  a  definite  chal- 
lenge on  the  part  of  the  Pharisees,  and  which 
constituted  a  crisis  in  the  ministry  of  Jesus.^ 
This  challenge  and  crisis  he  deliberately  and  defi- 
nitely faced.  The  passage  shows  Jesus  applying 
his  principle  of  love  to  the  highest  of  Jewish  insti- 
tutions, —  the  Sabbath, — and  brings  out  his  insist- 
ence that  even  this  highest  of  institutions  is  to  be 
regarded  as  means,  not  end,  that  it  must  serve 
men,  that  love  is  to  dominate  all  means,  that  love 
is  the  supreme  law. 
Mark  /.   The  gcrm-parablc  of  the  lamp  is  probably 

to  be  connected  directly  with  the  parable  of  the 
sower.  It  contains,  indeed,  in  itself  an  explana- 
tion of  the  use  of  parables.  "Is  the  lamp  brought 
to  be  put  under  the  bushel,  or  under  the  bed,  and 
not  to  be  put  on  the  stand .? "  The  saying  makes 
an  inner  appeal  to  the  reason  and  conscience  of 
his  hearers,  and  insists  that  light  is  given  that  it 
may  be  used,  that  the  only  reason  for  the  posses- 
sion of  truth,  of  power,  of  privilege,  is  that  they 
may  be  of  service.  This  constitutes  the  only  rea- 
son for  the  being  or  the  bestowal  of  aught.  The 
teaching  is,  thus,  an  unmistakable  insistence  that 
men  must  use  their  light,  must  be  true  to  it  them- 
selves and  bear  honest  witness  for  others. 

1  Cf.  Mark  3 :  2,  6.     See  Bennett,  TAe  Life  of  Christ  According  to 
St.  Mark,  pp.  38-47  ff.,  and  E.  A.  Abbott,  Philochristus,  pp.  127-128. 


4  :  21. 


THE   DOUBLY   ATTESTED   SAYINGS  $9 

8.  The  next  saying  is  at  least  closely  akin  to  Mark 
this,  if  not  spoken  by  Jesus  in  immediate  connec-  ^  •  ^''' 
tion  with  it  —  "  For  there  is  nothing  hid,  save  that 

it  should  be  manifested  ;  neither  was  any4;hing  made 
secret,  but  that  it  should  come  to  light."  The  say- 
ing is  possibly  an  answer  to  the  implied  objection 
to  the  preceding  saying  —  that  the  light  is  too 
precious  to  waste,  that  we  are  saving  it.  Or  per- 
haps, rather,  Jesus  is  here  simply  taking  another 
analogy  to  show  the  folly  of  not  using  what  we 
have;  like  the  folly  of  the  old-fashioned  parlors 
that  no  one  ever  enjoyed,  or  of  never  eating  any- 
thing but  specked  apples.  There  is  no  sense, 
Jesus  is  here  saying,  of  saving  a  thing  if  you  are 
not  saving  it  for  some  use ;  nothing  of  value  is  to 
be  kept  always  hid.  That  which  is  hid  is  hid  with 
reference  to  later  use  or  manifestation  in  some  way. 
Its  hiding,  if  rational,  is  preservation  for  future 
use ;  this  is  its  sole  justification.  Do  not  be  so 
foolish,  therefore,  Jesus  here  urges,  as  to  think 
that  hoarding  and  preserving  are  ends  in  them- 
selves; they  point  forward  to  use,  to  service. 
Have  you  anything  of  value  ?  some  special  knack, 
talent,  power,  gift  6f  entertainment,  some  inspir- 
ing truth,  some  great  new  revelation  ?  use  it,  share 
it.  This  seems  to  be  the  clear  bearing  of  this 
teaching  of  Jesus. 

9.  The  saying — "  If  any  man  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  Mark 
him  hear,"  —  is  of  a  kind  that  must  have  been  often  ^  '  ^^' 
repeated.     It  is  a  clear  summons  to  attention,  to 
thought,  to  the  use  of  one's  powers,  and  is  the  inner 


60  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

appeal,  again,  for  obedience  to  present  light  as  the 
very  way  into  further  enlightenment  and  growth. 
Attention  and  thought  make  the  road  to  the  under- 
standing and  the  heeding  of  the  truth.  There  are 
no  limits  to  be  set  to  the  growth  of  the  attentive, 
open  mind.  One's  own  attention  is  the  great  fac- 
tor in  his  growth.  This  takes  up  again  the  under- 
lying lesson  in  the  parable  of  the  sower.  This 
undoubtedly  repeated  saying  of  Jesus  is  the  chal- 
lenge everywhere  of  life,  of  the  whole  of  God's 
world,  of  all  real  education.  In  all  there  are  great 
opportunities,  but  only  opportunities.  The  best  of 
life  will  not  and  cannot  be  thrust  on  one.  Here 
is  opportunity,  of  growth,  of  developing  insight,  of 
power,  of  moral  conquest.  **  Will  you,  or  will  you 
not,  have  it  so  .•* "  "  If  any  man  hath  ears  to  hear, 
let  him  hear."  Here  lies  the  very  possibility  of 
the  ethical  life,  and  the  reason  for  its  inevitable 
seriousness. 
Mark  10.   The  Saying  —  "  With  what  measure  ye  mete, 

4:24b.  j^  shall  be  measured  unto  you"  —  seems  to  have 
been  a  proverb  of  the  time,  as  it  is  said  to  occur 
repeatedly  in  the  Talmud.  It  is  possible,  if  not 
probable,  that  the  saying  may  have  its  primary 
reference  to  what  God  shall  measure  out  to  us ; 
but  it  seems  also,  as  Jesus  takes  it  up  here,  a 
fundamental  law  in  all  personal  relations.  Men, 
too,  tend  to  respond  to  one  in  like  coin  to  that 
which  one  brings.  Jesus'  use  of  the  proverb 
seems  to  mean  that  he  has  clearly  seen  that  the 
world  and  men  are  so.  made  that  a  stingy  man 


THE    DOUBLY   ATTESTED    SAYINGS  6 1 

gets,  necessarily,  a  stingy  life.  In  the  connection 
in  which  the  passage  is  here  found,  it  seems  to 
have  this  force,  —  that  in  sharing  with  others,  and 
only  so,  can  much  be  shared  with  you.  As  you 
give  out  to  others,  you  shall  receive  the  more. 
Bear  witness  to  the  truth  you  see.  Share  your 
visions.  So  may  you  share  in  others*  insights, 
and  in  the  very  sharing  get,  yourself,  the  more. 
Here  is  plainly  a  fundamental  law  of  Hfe,  or  an 
illustration,  perhaps,  of  Christ's  all-inclusive  law 
of  life  through  death.  No  soul  can  thus  steadily, 
persistently  share  its  best  with  others  and  not  it- 
self be  greatly  enriched.  In  human  relations  this 
willingness  to  measure  liberally  is  a  prime  condi- 
tion, too,  of  the  triumph  of  the  good,  since  it  is  the 
one  way  to  secure  not  good  treatment,  alone,  from 
others,  but  the  really  right  spirit  in  others. 

1 1 .  The  saying  —  "  For  he  that  hath,  to  him  shall  Mark 
be  given  :  and  he  that  hath  not,  from  him  shall  be  ^  '  ^^* 
taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath  " — strikes  one 
at  first  as  unjust;  and  yet  one  cannot  think  upon 
it  long  without  seeing  that  here,  too,  we  have  an- 
other law  of  life,  another  inevitable  condition  of 
the  triumph  of  the  good.  It  is  really  only  Jesus' 
statement  of  the  law  of  growth,  of  the  modern 
psychological  law  of  habit,  and  probably  means 
that  power  in  any  line  grows  by  exercise.  It 
might  also  be  called  the  law  of  interest,  as  Dr. 
Ballantine  has  suggested,  and  might  be  phrased, 
"  He  that  hath  interest,  to  him  shall  be  given 
more   principal;   and  he  that   hath   not  interest, 


62  THE    ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

from  him  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  principal 
which  he  hath."  Have  you,  therefore,  anything 
of  value  ?  Its  use  will  increase  it.  Love,  and  you 
will  love  more.  Serve,  and  you  will  gain  in  power 
of  service.  You  stand  always  on  the  vantage 
ground  of  that  already  attained;  and  this  is  ex- 
actly the  law  of  habit.  On  the  other  hand,  refusal 
to  use  your  powers,  to  share  your  truth,  to  witness 
to  your  insights,  means  steady  loss ;  your  original 
gift  tends  steadily  to  decrease.  In  a  dynamic  world 
you  cannot  keep  your  force  in  a  napkin.  Jesus  is 
here  declaring  his  clear  insight  that,  contrary  to 
the  selfish  maxims  of  the  world,  the  world  and 
men  are  so  made  that  life  and  power  steadily  lessen 
where  there  is  the  selfish  refusal  to  share.  This  is 
the  spiritual  law  of  "  diminishing  returns,"  and  it 
means  that  the  world  and  men  are  made  for  love. 
Mark  12.     The   next   doubly   attested   saying   is   the 

4 :  30-33.  parable  of  the  mustard  seed,  which,  though  it 
uses  the  phrase  "  Kingdom  of  God,"  seems  to  me 
plainly  not  primarily  eschatological.^  It  is  a  state- 
ment, again,  rather  of  the  law  of  growth  in  the 

^Cf.  Bacon,  art.  "Jewish  Eschatology  and  the  Teaching  of 
Jesus,"  Biblical  Worlds  July,  1909;  Harnack,  What  is  Christianity?, 
pp.  53  ff.  Even  the  future  kingdom,  however  brought  in,  is  in  any 
case  conceived  by  Jesus  as  finally  ethical  and  spiritual,  so  that  the 
eschatological  cannot  be  the  dominating  conception.  Cf.  Muirhead, 
The  Eschatology  of  Jesus,  pp.  108,  1 14:  "The  Kingdom  of  God  is 
the  sum  of  all  good  things  belonging  to  the  supernatural  life  of  God's 
children "/  and  "  these  good  things  are,  primarily,  powers  of  holy 
truth  and  love  acting  on  the  human  conscience  and  will."  Cf. 
Bousset,/«Mj,  pp.  87,  89, 103;  Nestle,  art.  "  Lord's  Prayer,"  D.  C.  G., 
p.  59,  eschatological  element  "  remarkably  thrown  into  the  back- 


THE   DOUBLY   ATTESTED    SAYINGS  63 

moral  and  spiritual  world,  a  word  of  encourage- 
ment as  to  the  growth  of  this  whole  Kingdom  of 
God  among  men,  Jesus'  revealing  of  his  faith  in 
the  marvelous  growth  of  good  from  small  begin- 
nings. It  is  one  of  his  own  encouragements  of 
himself,  upon  which  we,  too,  may  count.^  It  con- 
ground."  So  Harnack,  <?/.  cit.,  p.  65.  Cf.  Mathews,  The  Messianic 
Hope  in  the  New  Testament^  Christ's  necessary  guarding  of  his  own 
ideal  of  Messiah,  pp.  96,  113,  115;  cf.  also  the  statement,  "  Escha- 
tology  in  his  teaching  is  essentially  a  recognition  of  immortality," 
p.  123.  So  Harnack  essentially,  op,  cit.,  p.  41.  Cf.  G.  A.  Smith, 
Jerusalem^  p.  540.  This  is,  of  course,  no  denial  of  the  presence  of 
the  eschatological  element  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  See,  upon  the 
whole  question,  Mathews,  The  Messianic  Hope  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment;  Muirhead,  The  Eschatology  of  Jesus ;  Sharman,  The  Teach- 
ing of  Jesus  about  the  Future  ;  Ehrhardt,  Der  Grundcharakter  der 
Ethik  Jesu,  im  Verh'dltniss  zu den  Messianischen;  Hoffnungen  seines 
Volkes  und  zu  seinem  eigenen  Messianbewusstsein ;  Fairweather, 
The  Background  of  the  6'(7j/<?/r,  especially  pp.  303-311;  Muirhead, 
"  Survey  of  Recent  Literature  on  Jewish  Eschatology,"  Review  of 
Theology  and  Philosophy,  June,  1908,  p.  772,  e.g. 

1  The  parables  pretty  certainly  form  a  definite  stage  in  the 
teaching  of  Jesus,  following  a  rather  marked  breach  with  the  Jewish 
leaders  (cf.  Bennett,  Life  of  Christ  According  to  St.  Mark),  pp. 
47  ff.,  54  flF.,  58,  64;  Bartlet,  art.  "Teaching  of  Jesus,"  D.  C.  G.,  pp. 
701  ff.;  Burkitt,  op.  cit.,  pp.  84 ff.)  and  they  reflect  plainly  Jesus* 
consciousness  at  the  time.  In  all  the  earlier  ones,  especially,  he 
seems  simply  to  be  voicing  to  others  lines  of  thought  which  he  was 
using  with  himself  for  his  own  encouragement,  in  view  of  the  in- 
creasing obstacles  to  his  work.  They  are  spoken  directly  and 
honestly  out  of  his  own  experience.  Thus  the  parable  of  the  mustard 
seed  suggests  faith  in  the  marvelous  growth  of  the  good;  the  parable 
of  the  leaven,  similarly,  the  wonderfully  contagious  power  of  even  a 
little  germ  of  good  hidden  in  the  lump  of  society;  the  parable  of 
the  sower,  that  man's  own  choice  is  a  constant  element  in  the 
result  of  the  truth,  etc.  (See  below,  in  outline  of  the  teaching  in 
Mark,  p.  108.) 


64  THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

tains  his  assurance  that  we  may  be  bold  in  good 
and  in  opposition  to  the  evil.  It  records  Jesus' 
unshakable  faith  that  the  world  belongs  to  God 
and  to  good,  and  that  evil  cannot  finally  tri- 
umph—  the  conviction  that  must  lie  at  the  bot- 
tom of  every  hopeful  ethical  struggle.^ 
Mark  14.    The  saying  —  "  Wheresoever  ye  enter  into  a 

^  •  ^°'  house,  there  abide  till  ye  depart  thence,"  etc. — gives, 

one  may  say,  the  law  for  the  sharing  of  good.  The 
passage  implies  that  the  disciples  have  a  great  good 
to  share,  the  good  news  of  the  Kingdom  ;  and  that 
this  good  cannot  be  simply  forced  upon  men.  If 
men  will  receive  it,  the  disciples  are  to  share  it 
fully  and  generously,  with  no  self-seeking  and 
fickle  change  of  quarters.  If  men  will  not  re- 
ceive it,  the  disciples  can  still  only  faithfully 
bear  witness  that  these  men  are  shutting  their 
lives  from  a  supreme  good.  There  is  here  to  be 
seen  not  only  Christ's  deep  sense  of  the  great- 
ness and  significance  of  his  message,  but  his 
clear  recognition  that  it  must  make  progress 
among  men  only  so  far  as  it  can  make  an  inner 
appeal.  In  all  efforts  for  the  triumph  of  good, 
the  final  resource  must  be  simple  witness,  in  the 
face  of  either  reception  or  rejection;  but  that 
witness  there  must  be. 
Mark  I/.   In  the  next  saying  —  "If  any  man  would 

^  •  ^'^'  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up 

his  cross  and  follow   me"; — Jesus  is   stating  the 

1  Cf.  C.  S.  Peirce,  "  A  Neglected  Argument  for  the  Reality  of 
God,"  Hibbert  Journal,  October,  1908,  p.  no. 


THE   DOUBLY   ATTESTED    SAYINGS  6$ 

law  of  life  for  himself  and  for  his  disciples  alike.^ 
The  man  who  would  follow  him,  he  says,  must 
deny  himself,  must  not  make  himself  the  center, 
must  abandon  the  selfish  life  which  makes  the 
bearing  on  the  self  the  constant  criterion  for  con- 
duct, but  must  rather  dare  the  hardest  thing,  even 
to  the  bearing  of  the  cross  to  his  own  execution, 
rather  than  turn  away  from  the  call  of  duty.^ 
This  is  renunciation  of  the  selfish  self  once  for  all, 
not  the  taking  on  of  ascetic  practices  for  ends  that 
are  still  selfish.  In  Gould's  language,  "  He  is  not 
to  deny  something  to  himself,  but  he  is  to  renounce 
himself."  **  It  is  the  negative  side  of  the  com- 
mand to  love."  ^  The  call  is  rather  to  a  life  like 
Christ's,  to  a  fundamental,  steady,  self-giving  as 
the  basic  law  of  life.  Against  the  whole  selfish 
trend  of  men  and  of  his  time,  Jesus  affirms  the 
universal  law  of  self-giving  love,  the  firm  holding 
of  oneself  to  the  hard  task  that  is  called  for  by 
needed  service.  Jesus  seems,  in  short,  to  be  say- 
ing that,  in  the  following  of  duty,  such  oblivious- 
ness to  personal  consequences  must  be  manifest  as 
would  take  a  man  even  to  crucifixion,  rather  than 
that  he  should  fall  away  from  duty. 

1  The  passage  has  been  called  in  question  on  account  of  its  refer- 
ence to  the  cross,  and  it  does  seem  plainly  to  call  up  the  picture  of 
going  to  execution;  but  that  picture  was  not  so  uncommon  a  one 
as  to  raise  any  just  reason  against  the  historicity  of  the  passage.  Cf. 
Harnack,  T/ie  Sayings  of  Jesus, ^p.  204-205. 

2  Not  self-sacrifice  for  its  own  sake,  but  self-sacrifice  only  as 
called  for  by  love.  Cf.  Mathews,  The  Social  Teaching  of  Jesus,  p. 
192.       8  j-^^  International  Critical  Commentary^  "Mark,"  p.  156. 

F 


(^  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

Mark  1 8.    "And  whosoever  shall  cause  one  of  these 

9  •  42-  little  ones  that  believe  on  me  to  stumble,  it  were 

better  for  him  if  a  great  millstone  were  hanged 
about  his  neck,  and  he  were  cast  into  the  sea." 
On  the  ethical  side,  this  passage  plainly  sug- 
gests the  enormity  of  the  sin  of  the  stumbling  of 
even  the  least  of  those  who  have  entered  honestly 
upon  the  path  of  duty.  Death  itself  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred to  such  stumbling  of  another.  The  passage 
has  the  feeling  of  a  smothered  indignation  against 
the  meanness  of  taking  advantage  of  those  who 
are  only  in  the  beginning  of  their  fight  for  char- 
acter. The  passage  plainly  denies,  in  Jesus'  view, 
the  right  of  a  man  to  determine  his  conduct  simply 
with  reference  to  himself.  He  must  consider  its 
bearing  on  others  as  well. 
Mark  IQ.   The  deadly  earnestness  of  tone  of  this  pas- 

9  '-  43-48.  g^gg  jg  |.Q  |jg  seen,  again,  in  the  next  of  our  doubly 
attested  sayings  —  "  If  thy  hand  cause  thee  to 
stumble,  cut  it  off :  it  is  good  for  thee  to  enter  into 
life  maimed,  rather  than  having  thy  two  hands  to 
go  into  the  unquenchable  fire."  In  the  judgment 
of  Jesus,  this  advice  is  not  asceticism,^  but  good 
sense.     One  must  be   willing  to  pay  the  cost  of 

^Cf.  Dudden,  art. «  Asceticism,"  D.  C.  G.,  pp.  128,  129,  130; 
Harnack,  What  is  Christianity?,  pp.  79  ff.,  87;  James  Seth,  art. 
•'  Certain  Alleged  Defects  in  Christian  Morality,"  Hibbert  Journal^ 
October,  1907,  pp.  104  ff,;  Peabody,/w«j  Christ  and  the  Christian 
Character,  pp.  167  ff.;  Dobschiitz,  Christian  Life  in  the  Primitive 
Church,  p.  377;  Mathews,  The  Messianic  Hope  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, p.  279;  Stevens,  The  Theology  of  the  New  Testament,^.  115; 
Briggs,  The  Ethical  Teaching  of /esm,  pp.  168,  169. 


/ 


THE   DOUBLY   ATTESTED   SAYINGS  6/ 

high  attainment,  to  sacrifice  the  part  to  the  whole, 
the  temporary  to  the  permanent,  the  relative  to 
the  absolute.  It  is  another  illustration  of  the 
general  principle  of  Jesus  that  one  must  die  to 
live.  The  passage  shows  the  earnestness  of  Jesus, 
in  his  insistence  upon  the  solemn  seriousness  of 
life,  the  possibility  of  remediless  loss.  Whatever  in- 
terpretation one  puts  upon  figures  of  the  passage, 
it  is  impossible  to  escape  this  feeling.  Christ's 
teaching,  it  should  be  noted  here,  is  inevitably 
dead  in  earnest  as  to  the  seriousness  of  life.  There 
is  no  question  of  qualms  of  sympathy  or  of  simple 
desire ;  for  him  there  is  only  one  true  life ;  if  a 
man  will  not  live  that  life — the  loving  —  life,  but  '^^ 
if  he  will  be  selfish,  he  by  that  very  thing  shuts 
himself  out  from  life.  He  plants  the  seed  of 
death,  whose  harvest  he  must  reap.  It  is  because 
Jesus  sees  with  such  inevitable  clearness  that  there 
are  no  possible  devices  by  which  the  practices 
of  selfishness  can  be  manipulated  into  life,  in  no 
place  and  at  no  time  and  by  no  possible  means, 
that  he  must  say.  Whatever  causes  thee  to  stumble 
in  the  way  of  life,  set  it  unhesitatingly  aside ;  it  is 
good  for  thee  to  enter  into  life  without  it,  rather 
than  to  fail  of  life  with  whatever  else.^ 

20.    Closely  connected  in  spirit   with   this  pas-  Mark 
sage  is  the  saying,  "  Salt  is  good  :  but  if  the  salt  9 :  50  a. 
have  lost  its  saltness,  wherewith  will  ye  season  it .?  " 
It  seems  most  probable  that  Jesus  is  thinking  of 
salt  as  that  which  preserves  things  sound,  and  so 

^  Cf.  Gore,  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  pp.  66-67. 


68  THE   ETHICS   Ci^-  JESUS 

uses  it  as  a  characteristic  of  the  truly  righteous  man 
—  implying  the  law  of  the  contagion  of  the  good. 
But  directly,  the  saying  is  an  insistence  on  funda- 
mental integrity  of  life.  It  declares  the  deadliness 
of  falseness,  the  uselessness  of  sham.  "If  the 
salt  have  lost  its  saltness,  wherewith  will  ye  season 
it  ?  "  If  the  passage  is  to  be  connected  with  the 
one  just  considered,  the  spirit  of  discipline  and  of 
sacrifice  seems  to  be  specially  in  mind.  And  as 
related  to  others,  this  saying  affirms  that  we  must 
start  from  the  fundamentally  good  life  for  the 
help  of  the  world.  The  principle  underlying  it, 
as  has  just  been  noted,  is  the  principle  of  the  con- 
tagion of  the  good ;  you  cannot  season  the  world 
with  saltless  salt.  As  compared  with  this  impera- 
tive necessity  for  the  fundamentally  good  life  of 
the  individual,  all  else  is  incidental.^ 
Mark  21.   The  next  saying  takes  us  still  more  clearly 

into  the  social  world :  "  Whosoever  shall  put  away 
his  wife,  and  marry  another,  committeth  adultery 
against  her,"  etc.^     Even  independent  of  the  con- 

1  Cf.  Williams,  A  Review  of  Evolutional  Ethics,  p.  447 :  "It  is 
doubtful  whether  there  is  any  other  benefit  we  can  confer  on 
our  fellow-men  so  great  as  just  the  assurance  that  they  can  rely 
on  us." 

2  In  the  parallel  passage  in  Matthew  19:  3-9,  the  evangelist  has 
pretty  plainly  so  changed  the  passage  in  Mark  as  to  produce  a 
somewhat  different  impression.  In  Matthew  5  :  32,  also,  the  clause, 
"saving  for  the  cause  of  fornication,"  is  probably  an  unwarranted 
addition  to  the  saying  of  Jesus.  Cf.  Allen,  International  Critical 
Commentary,  "  Matthew,"  passim.  See  especially  Burton,  "  The 
Biblical  Teaching  Concerning  Divorce,"  Biblical  World,  March, 
1907 J  and  upon  the  whole  question:  Peabody,  Jesus  Christ  and 


10  : 11-12. 


THE   DOUBLY   ATTESTED    SAYINGS  69 

text  in  which  this  passage  occurs,  the  saying  im- 
plies upon  Jesus'  part  a  high  ideal  of  marriage. 
There  was  to  be  no  bartering  of  husbands  and 
wives,  even  though  it  be  done  under  the  forms  of 
law,  and  that  law  the  Mosaic  law.  The  wife  was 
no  thing  or  slave  to  be  put  away  at  any  whim  of 
the  husband ;  and  if  the  context  is  to  be  recognized, 
Jesus  clearly  declares  that  not  even  the  Mosaic 
law  can  justify  such  putting  away.  By  clear  im- 
plication, also,  Jesus  is  here  demanding  that  there 
should  be  in  marriage  none  of  that  same  tyrannical 
spirit  which  was  manifested  in  the  putting  away 
of  the  wife  for  small  cause.  Jesus  is  to  be  thought 
of  here,  probably,  not  as  legislating,  but  as  setting 
forth  his  ideal  of  marriage ;  and  his  thought  of 
marriage  is  that  it  was  clearly  intended  by  God 
to  involve  sacred  and  permanent  obligations,  a 
covenant  with  God  and  society,  as  well  as  with  one 
another,  and  not,  therefore,  to  be  willfully  set  aside 
by  the  two  persons  first  concerned.  The  positive 
principle  underlying  his  declaration  against  divorce 
is  the  spirit  of  reverent  love  that  forbids  that  the 
wife  should  be  treated  as  a  thing  or  a  slave.  And 
it  may  well  be  remembered  that  the  record  of 
marital  unrest  and  divorce  in  America,  shameful 
as  it  is,  no  doubt  in  many  cases  is  not  all  an  evil. 
Much  of  it  goes  back  to  an  increasing  sense  of 
what  is  due  to  a  person,  to  the  demand  that  may 
legitimately  be  made  for  reverent  love  on  the  part 

the  Social  Question^   ch.  Ill;   Mathews,    The  Social   Teaching  of 
Jesus,  ch.  IV;  Murray,  Handbook  of  Christian  Ethics,  pp.  253  ff. 


70  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

of   both   husband  and  wife.     In  the  very  evil  of 
divorce  there  is  thus  manifested  a  growing  sense 
of  that  reverence  for  the  person  which  underlay 
Christ's  own  high  ideal  of  marriage. 
Mark  22.    In  the  next  saying  —  "  Ye  know  that  they 

lo  :  42-45-  -yyhich  are  accounted  to  rule  over  the  Gentiles  lord 
it  over  them,"  etc.  —  Jesus  is  declaring,  more  posi- 
tively than  the  preceding  sayings  have  done,  the 
fundamental  law  of  service  for  all  who  have  given 
themselves  to  the  life  of  righteousness.  Jesus 
seems  plainly  to  imply  that  this  law  is  to  be  applied 
in  all  human  relations.  His  only  test  of  greatness 
is  priority  in  service.  "  Whosoever  would  be  first 
among  you,  shall  be  servant  of  all."  The  position 
of  authority,  in  Jesus'  thought,  gives  no  right  to 
lord  it  over  others,  or  to  lay  upon  them  a  command 
as  of  simple,  willful  authority.  Rather,  the  man  in 
the  position  of  authority  must  justify  his  position  by 
the  greater  service ;  his  only  rightful  claim  upon 
the  authoritative  position  is  to  be  found  in  the  de- 
gree of  the  service  which  he  renders.  If  the  45th 
verse  is  to  be  taken  into  account,  Jesus  unhesitat- 
ingly applies  the  principle  to  himself  in  saying, 
"  For  even  the  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  minis- 
tered unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a 
ransom  for  many."  His  life,  too,  was  to  be  pre- 
eminently for  service,  and  his  service  to  be  of  such 
a  kind  as  to  bring  back  many  out  of  the  captivity 
and  loss  of  unworthy  lives  ;  and  he  there  suggests 
that  all  true  service  of  others  has  something  of  this 
same  redeeming  quality.     It  need  not  be  pointed 


THE   DOUBLY   ATTESTED    SAYINGS  7 1 

out  how  far-reaching  is  this  whole  principle  of  the 
testing  of  all  lives  and  all  institutions  by  service, 
and  by  service  only.  Here  is  Jesus'  law  of  priority, 
as  based  on  service. 

27.  In  the  saying,  "  Beware  of  the  scribes,  who  Mark 
desire  to  walk  in  long  robes,"  etc.,  Jesus  declares  "  =38-39- 
that  spirit  unworthy  of  the  true  man  which  seeks 

the  most  conspicuous  and  best  places,  which 
seeks  honors  and  discrimination  from  others.  The 
saying  is  a  protest  against  selfish  consideration 
simply  for  self,  against  the  ignoring  of  the  rights 
and  needs  of  others.  In  all  this,  Jesus  sees  a  sin 
against  love.  His  feeling  seems  to  be  that  a  gen- 
uinely loving,  sensitive  heart  feels  troubled  to  be 
singled  out  to  the  disadvantage  of  others.  It  does 
not  wish  to  place  others  in  unfavorable  contrast. 
He  is  hurt  that  others  are  hurt.  The  son  does  not 
wish  praise  that  implies  dispraise  of  his  father.  It 
is  not  merely,  therefore,  the  spirit  of  humility  that 
is  here  called  for,  but  rather  the  more  inclusive 
spirit  of  a  genuinely  unselfish  love.  And  it  is  pos- 
sible to  interpret  the  passage  sanely,  probably,  only 
as  one  keeps  it  in  mind  as  one  of  the  demands  of 
love. 

28.  In  the  saying,  '*  And  when  they  lead  you  to  Mark 
judgment,  and  deliver  you  up,  be  not  anxious  before-  ^3  :  "• 
hand  what  ye  shall  speak,"  etc.,  Jesus  seems  virtu- 
ally to  be  saying,  If  you  are  right,  if  your  spirit  is 
what  it  should  be,  if  it  is  your  loyalty  to  the  truth 
which  has  brought  you  into  straits,  you  need  not  be 
anxious  for  words.     The  fountain  will  determine 


72  THE   ETHICS    OF  JESUS 

the  stream.  All  effective  speaking  must  be  pri- 
marily from  within.  If  it  is  in  you,  it  will  come 
out.  At  the  great  crisis  hours  of  life,  therefore, 
where  your  own  heart's  life  is  genuinely  involved, 
where  you  are  yourself  all  aflame,  you  need  not  be 
anxious  for  words.  Then  the  great  need  is  not 
eloquent  putting,  that  suggests  you  have  not  for- 
gotten yourself,  but  evidence  of  conviction,  of  love, 
of  life ;  and  out  of  these  the  very  simplicity  of  elo- 
quence is  born.  You  speak,  thus,  what  is  "  given 
you  in  that  hour."  You  need  not  guard  against 
speaking  disloyalty,  if  only  loyalty  is  in  your  heart. 
At  such  crisis  hours  you  may  follow  trustfully  and 
restfully  the  leading  of  the  Spirit,  who  is  the  source 
of  your  life.  Out  of  that  life,  that  experience,  you 
speak.  So,  speaking  out  of  the  Spirit-inspired  life, 
you  need  not  be  anxious. 
Mark  3 1 .    Closely  akin  in  spirit  to  this  saying  is  the  next 

saying,  "  It  is  as  when  a  man,  sojourning  in  another 
country,"  etc.  For  the  only  preparation  for  crisis 
hours  is  in  the  spirit  of  watchfulness  that  has  per- 
vaded the  days  preceding.  Just  because  Jesus  be- 
lieves that  the  moral  and  spiritual  Hf e  must  be  from 
within,  must  be  the  man's  own,  the  only  safety  lies 
in  the  most  vigilant  watchfulness.  And  not  only  the 
soundness  of  their  inner  life,  but  the  great  interests 
intrusted  to  his  disciples,  Jesus  believes,  demand 
this  perpetual  watchfulness.  Great  interests  are 
at  stake,  and  they  do  not  know  when  the  testing 
times  may  come.  It  is  never  safe,  therefore,  for 
the  disciple  of  the  righteous  life  to  fall  below  his 


13  : 34-35- 


THE    DOUBLY   ATTESTED    SAYINGS  73 

best.  Jesus'  thought  in  this  passage  is  not  merely, 
or  chiefly,  one  of  fear  of  punishment,  but  rather  of 
shame  in  the  jeopardizing  of  great  interests.  It 
will  become  increasingly  clear  in  this  study  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus,  that  the  insistence  upon  watchful- 
ness, in  such  passages  as  this,  is  no  incidental  ex- 
hortation, but  is  closely  connected  with  his  entire 
view  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  life.^ 

When  one  looks  back  over  this  entire  list  of  the  Summary 
doubly  attested  sayings  of  Jesus,  it  is  plain  that,  °nces.^^" 
like  proverbs,  they  are  evidently  intended  to  ex- 
press Jesus'  discernment  of  various  important  laws  Jesus'  sense 
of  life.     They  disclose  an  underlying  but  dominant  the^pir-^ 
sense  of  law  in  the  spiritual  world.     They  show  a  ituai  world, 
kind  of  feeling  on  the  part  of  Jesus  that  can  hardly 
be  called  less  than  instinctively  scientific.     He  has 
the  clear  sense  that  the  spiritual  life  is  so  perva- 
sively one  that  there  can  be  no  accidents  in  it,  but 
that  one  may  count  everywhere  upon  great  laws 
as  involved  in  the  very  fidelity  of  the  Father. 

The  first  of  these  sayings  thus  —  "Is  it  lawful  inwardness 
on  the  sabbath  day  to  do  good,  or  to  do  harm  .?  "  —    p^^jl^'nct, 
asserts,  on  the  one  side,  in  Jesus'  daring  to  enunci-  and  the 
ate  this  principle  over  against  even  the  Sabbath,  qj^iq^^^^^^ 
the  law  of  the  necessary  inwardness  and  independ- 
ence of  the  moral  life.     He  acts  upon  an  instinctive 
judgment  of  his  own,  and  makes  his   appeal  to  a 

1  Cf.  The  Creed  of  Christ,  on  "spiritual  indolence"  as  "the 
root"  of  Pharisaism,  p.  94;  Peabody,  y<?j«5  Christ  and  the  Christian 
Character,  p.  14 :  the  modern  demand  for  "  new  alertness,"  "  new 
sobriety,"  "  new  integrity." 


\ 


74 


THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 


The  laws 
of  use  and 
growth. 


Law  of 

conse- 
quences. 


Faith  in 
growth  of 
the  good. 


like  judgment  in  those  to  whom  he  speaks.  And 
this  same  appeal  is  to  be  found  in  the  9th  saying, 
"  If  any  man  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear."  On 
the  other  side,  this  saying  concerning  the  Sabbath 
expresses  the  law  of  the  supremacy  of  love  over 
even  the  highest  and  most  sacred  institution. 

The  7th  and  8th  sayings,  as  to  the  lamp  and  that 
which  is  hid,  express  what  may  be  called  the 
law  of  use ;  what  you  have,  these  sayings  insist,  is 
given  for  use,  and  its  possession  becomes  an  ab- 
surdity on  any  other  conception.  This  law,  too,  is 
implied  again  in  the  9th  saying,  "  He  that  hath  ears 
to  hear,  let  him  hear  " ;  and  has  an  even  stronger 
emphasis  in  the  nth  saying,  "He  that  hath,  to 
him  shall  be  given;  and  he  that  hath  not,  from 
him  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath." 
This  saying  might  be  called  an  expression  of  the 
law  of  growth  or  habit ^  on  the  one  side,  and  the  law 
of  "  diminishing  returns  "  in  the  spiritual  world,  on 
the  other.  It  enunciates  the  certainty  of  growth 
by  exercise,  of  loss  by  disuse. 

The  loth  saying  —  "With  what  measure  ye 
mete,  it  shall  be  measured  unto  you" — may  be 
called  the  law  of  consequences^  or  of  cause  and 
effect^  in  relation  to  others.  It  insists  that  in  this 
world  of  personal  relations,  even  as  in  the  external 
world,  like  produces  like ;  results  certainly  follow  ; 
that  what  one  sows,  that  he  shall  reap. 

The  1 2th  saying,  the  parable  of  the  mustard 
seed,  is  an  expression  of  the  law  of  faith  in  the 
growth  of  the  Kingdom  —  faith  in  the  moral  trend 


THE   DOUBLY   ATTESTED    SAYINGS  7$ 

of  the  universe,  without  which  there  must  be  pa- 
ralysis not  only  of  the  religious  life,  but  of  all 
moral  effort. 

The  14th  saying,  the  direction  to  the  Twelve  Law  of 
in  the  carrying  of  their  message  of  the  Kingdom,  ^^^^'^^^  ^® 
may  be  called  the  law  of  sharing  the  good.  It  is 
Christ's  insistence  that  none  of  the  highest  values 
of  life  can  be  forced  upon  men;  concerning  them 
one  can  only  bear  witness ;  but  this  witness  he  is 
faithfully  to  bear. 

The  17th  saying — "If  any  man  would  come  Law  of  self- 
after  me,  let  him  deny  himself  "  — is  very  clearly,  ^^^"  ^^' 
in  Christ's  thought,  not  merely  a  subordinate  law, 
but  a  fundamental  law  of  his  discipleship,  and  so 
of  any  genuine  ethical  life.  It  may  be  called  the 
law  of  self-sacrifice,  and  is  only  the  negative  side 
of  his  one  great  law  of  love,  affirmed  in  the  ist 
saying,  and  most  clearly  in  the  26th,  though  that 
is  probably  not  doubly  attested. 

The  i^th  saying,  as  to  stumbling  **  one  of  these  The  sin 
little  ones,"  expresses  Christ's  sense  of  the  enormity  \^^^  ^^^ 
of  the  sin  of  stumbling  others ,  and  implies  his  deep 
conviction  of  the  constant  seriousness  of  life. 

The  19th  saying  —  "If  thy  hand  cause  thee  to  Law  of 
stumble,  cut  it  off "  —  brings  out  again,  in  incisive  ^®"^^^- 
terms,  this  sense  of  the  seriousness  of  life,  and 
assumes  as  undoubted  the  thoroughgoing  unity  of 
life,  while  it  states  explicitly  what  may  be  called 
the  law  of  efficiency ,  or  the  law  of  the  simple  life, 
the  necessity  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  relative  goods. 

The  20th  saying  —  "  Salt  is  good  :  but  if  the  salt 


76 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


The  con- 
tagion of 
the  good. 


Reverence 
for  the 
person. 


Priority 
by  service. 


Law  of 
utterance. 


have  lost  its  saltness,  wherewith  will  ye  season 
it?"  —  implies  the  law  of  the  contagion  of  the 
good,  —  that  the  business  of  the  righteous  man 
everywhere  is  to  help  keep  society  sound ;  and 
states  explicitly  the  law  of  the  necessity  of  absolute 
integrity  of  life.  The  very  savor  has  gone  out  of 
life  where  the  life  is  not  true  through  and  through. 
Here,  again,  the  insistent  earnestness  of  Jesus 
comes  into  the  foreground. 

The  2 1st  saying,  concerning  divorce,  proceeds 
upon  the  assumption  of  the  fundamental  law  of 
reverence  for  the  person.  Neither  husband  nor  wife 
may  play  tyrant ;  neither  husband  nor  wife  may  be 
treated  as  a  thing. 

The  22d  saying  —  "Whosoever  would  become 
great  among  you,  shall  be  your  minister  "  —  is  the 
law  of  priority  based  on  service,  and  finds  illustration 
also  in  the  27th  concerning  the  chief  seats.  This 
law  implies  that  the  test  of  service  to  men  is  to  be 
applied  to  every  man  and  every  institution,  that 
honor  goes  not  with  special  privilege,  but  with 
service  rendered. 

The  28th  saying,  —  "  Be  not  anxious  beforehand 
what  ye  shall  speak,"  —  with  its  assurance  that  the 
crisis  hour  may  be  awaited  without  anxiety,  may 
be  called  the  law  of  utterance  out  of  the  inner  life. 
It  is  another  form  of  Jesus'  saying,  '*  Out  of  the 
abundance  of  the  heart,  the  mouth  speaketh." 
The  best  preparation  for  the  hour  of  crisis  is  the 
true,  faithful,  Spirit-guided  life,  which  shall  fruit 
naturally  into  speech  in  that  hour. 


THE    DOUBLY   ATTESTED    SAYINGS  7/ 

The  31st  saying — "Watch  therefore"  —  is  an-  Law  of 
other  expression  of  the  seriousness  of  Ufe,  and  may  ^^^g^';^^'^" 
be  called  the  law  of  vigilant  watchfulness.     That 
sense  of  the  seriousness  of  life  reflected  in  other 
sayings   could   not    fail   to    register   this   protest 
against  the  ungirt  life.^ 

If  one  attempts,  now,  to  group  logically  all  these  Logical 
sayings,  stated  as  laws  of  life,  they  may  be  brought  f^g^^^'Jgg^^ 
together  under  the  heads  :  moral  end,  moral  evi- 
dence, moral  means. 

I.    Moral  end:  the  laws  of  the  goal. 

As  to  the  moral  end,  there  is  clearly  to  be  rec-  Faith  in  the 
ognized,  in  several  of  the  sayings,  an  abiding  faith  J{^™(fod.° 
in  the  moral  trend  of  the  universe,  in  the  triumph 
of  the  good.  Stated  in  religious  terms,  this  means 
for  Jesus  trust  in  the  love  of  God  as  Father  (12, 
18,  23,  24,  25,  28).  For  the  consciousness  of 
Jesus,  it  is  further  clear  that  the  laws  of  the  King- 
dom—  the  laws  of  life  —  depend  on  this  faith  in 
God  as  Father,  in  eternal  love  as  the  source  and 
goal  of  the  world.     This  is  for  him  the  best  con- 

1  Even  those  of  these  doubly  attested  sayings  that  are  not  pri- 
marily ethical  still  include  or  involve  also  ethical  convictions.  The 
sayings  concerning  prayer,  23  and  24,  imply  faith  in  the  triumph  of 
the  good.  The  saying  concerning  the  forgiving  spirit  in  prayer 
affirms  the  constant  necessity  of  that  spirit.  The  29th  saying,  — 
"Let  him  that  is  on  the  housetop  not  come  down,"  —  if  it  is  not 
to  be  regarded  as  merely  a  practical  counsel  for  the  time  of  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  is  an  insistence,  like  the  19th,  upon  the 
necessity  of  the  sacrifice  of  relative  goods.  And  the  30th  saying  — 
"  If  any  man  shall  say  unto  you,  Lo  here  is  the  Christ  "  —  ex- 
presses Jesus'  conviction  that  not  external  marvels,  but  inner  appeal, 
is  the  evidence  of  the  truth. 


yS  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

ceivable  good  news,  and  stated  even  in  the  bare 
ethical  form  of  faith  in  the  moral  trend  of  the  uni- 
verse, —  in  the  triumph  of  the  good,  it  is  clear  that 
it  logically  underlies  all  our  highest  endeavors  of 
every  kind.^  For  Jesus,  clearly,  this  faith  in  God 
as  Father,  in  love  as  source  and  goal  of  the  world, 
carried  with  it  the  inevitable  thought  of  the  feasi- 
bility of  a  life  of  trust,  peace,  hope,  growth ;  and, 
not  less,  the  obligation  and  privilege  of  a  life  of 
love  like  that  of  the  Father.  And  the  life  of  love 
could  never  be  conceived  by  Jesus  except  as  a  life 
of  practical  service,  the  sharing  with  others  of 
every  good  one  had  himself. 
Love  the  This  necessary  faith  in  love  at  the  heart  of  the 

sum  of  world  seems  itself  to  imply  that  the  sum  and  end 

of  our  human  life,  too,  must  be  found  in  love. 
This  love  finds  its  interpretation  in  Jesus'  concep- 
tion of  the  love  of  God,  and  in  its  manifestation  in 
his  own  life,  culminating  in  the  sacrifice  of  the 
cross.2    This  is  definitely  affirmed  in  the  ist  say- 

^Cf.  Teahody, /esus  Christ  and  the  Christian  Character^  p.  237; 
Nash,  Ethics  and  Revelation,  pp.  50  ff.,  144  ff.,  173,  186,  215  ff.,  230, 
243,  266;  Shairp,  Studies  in  Poetry  and  Philosophy,  pp.  325,  328, 
335,  336;  Dewey,  Outlines  of  Ethics,  p.  213;  Dole,  The  Spirit  of 
Democracy,  pp.  410,  416;  G.  B.  Foster,  "Concerning  the  Religious 
Basis  of  Ethics,"  American  Journal  of  Theology,  April,  1908; 
Martensen,  Christian  Ethics,  pp.  61  ff.;  Murray,  Handbook  of  Chris- 
tian Ethics,  p.  3. 

2  Cf.  Briggs,  in  Ethical  Teaching  of  Jesus :  "  Godlike  love,"  pp. 
97  ff. ;  "  Christlike  love,"  pp.  1 14  ff .  See  also  E.  A.  Abbott,  Silanus 
the  Christian,  ^'^.  355  IT.  j  Ecce  Homo,^^.  56-57;  M.\xxta.y ,  Handbook 
of  Christian  Ethics,  pp.  35,  36;  Dale,  Laws  of  Christ  for  Common 
Life,  ch.  IX, "  The  Grace  of  Christ  the  Law  of  Conduct,"  pp.  141  ff.; 


THE    DOUBLY   ATTESTED    SAYINGS  79 

ing,  and  in  the  26th,  concerning  the  summary  of 
the  law  in  love,  with  which  we  have  not  dealt.  In 
religious  terms,  this  proposition  would  mean  the 
doing  of  the  will  of  God,  or  the  sharing  of  the  life 
of  the  Father.  That  such  a  love  may  be  counted 
a  sharing  of  the  life  of  the  Father  means  for  Jesus 
that  love  is  the  sum  and  end  of  life,  and  this  is 
either  implied  or  distinctly  asserted  in  several  of 
these  sayings.  The  service  of  love  is  above  even 
the  most  sacred  institution  (i);  it  means  courage- 
ous self-sacrifice  (17;  cf.  27);  it  means  superiority 
in  service  (22;  cf.  8);  it  means  reverence  for  the 
person  (21;  cf.  18);  it  means  everywhere  the  for- 
giving spirit  (25);  and  it  implies,  of  course,  that 
there  will  be  no  stumbling  of  others  (18). 

2.    Moral  evidence. 

Faith  in  the  moral  trend  of  the  universe  —  in  Fidelity  to 
religious  terms,  trust  in  God  —  carries  with  it  the 
being  able  to  trust  the  inner  appeal,  the  direct 
appeal  to  our  own  reason  and  conscience,  to  our 
**  necessities  of  thought."  God  would  not  be  faith- 
ful, the  universe  not  truly  rational,  if  we  could 
not  thus  trust  finally  our  own  natures.  This 
direct  appeal  to  his  hearer's  own  moral  judgment, 
Jesus  repeatedly  makes  in  these  sayings :  "  Is  it 
lawful  on  the  sabbath  day  to  do  good,  or  to  do 
harm?"  (i);  "Is  the  lamp  brought  to  be  put 
under  the  bushel  t "  (7) ;  "  If  any  man  hath  ears 

Bruce,  The  Kingdom  of  God^  ch.  X ;  Haering,  The  Ethics  of  the 
Christian  Life,  pp.  156  ff.,  lySff.  Cf.  Burkitt,  op.  cit.,  pp.  284  ff.; 
Beyschlag,  New  Testament  Theology ^  vol.  I,  pp.  11 2-1 13. 


the  inner 
light. 


80  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

to  hear,  let  him  hear "  (9).  No  sign  is  to  be 
given  to  this  generation  that  shall  compel  their 
belief ;  they  must  rely  upon  the  moral  evidence 
(15,  cf.  30).  And,  in  the  group  of  sayings,  —  2,  3, 
4, — the  Beelzebub  section,  it  is  plain  that  Jesus 
expects  his  teaching  to  have  a  kind  of  self-evi- 
dencing power.  It  is  not  to  get  its  support  from 
authority  or  labored  argument;  at  the  most  he 
gives  his  hearers  only  a  series  of  insights,  and  he 
insists  most  solemnly  that  no  possible  contempt 
of  himself  can  compare  in  seriousness  of  sin  with 
unfaithfulness  to  one's  own  best  vision. 
3.    Moral  means. 

But  many  of  these  doubly  attested  sayings,  it 
is  plain,  point  rather  to  the  means  by  which  the 
moral  life  is  to  be  developed,  either  in  one's  own 
life,  or  in  relation  to  others,  than  explicitly  either 
to  the  end  or  the  evidence  of  the  moral  life. 
Unity,  And  for  the  inner  life  of  the  man  himself  Jesus 

Ln?"*^'  insists,  in  no  uncertain  terms,  either  expressly  or 
inwardness  impliedly,  on  the  inescapable  unity  of  this  life 
(2,  3,  4,  19,  20;  cf.  28).  It  is  perhaps  only  to  say 
the  same  thing  in  different  terms,  or  to  state 
the  immediate  consequences  of  the  law  of  the 
unity  of  life,  to  say  that  Jesus  brings  not  less 
surely  into  the  foreground  the  principle  of  the 
necessity  of  absolute  integrity  of  life,  of  truth 
to  the  inner  vision  (4,   19,  20,  7,  9,  28).^     From 

1  This  seems  to  be  the  chief  insistence  of  Clark's  The  Christian 
Method  of  Ethics.  The  conception  is  of  a  life  so  related  to  God  in 
Christ  as  instinctively  and  habitually  to  manifest  itself  aright  in  the 


of  life. 


THE   DOUBLY   ATTESTED   SAYINGS  8 1 

this  conception  of  the  necessity  of  the  integrity 
of  life,  there  follows  at  once  the  demand  for 
independence  and  inwardness    in    the    moral    life 

(I,  9,  4).> 

These  three  principles  of  Jesus  —  of  the  unity  "The 
of  life,  the  necessity  of  the  complete  integrity  of  ^^^^^ion 
life,  and  of  the  inevitable  independence  and  in-  Spirit." 
wardness  of  the  moral  life  —  all  plainly  belong 
together,  and  they  mark  the  point  of  sharpest 
contrast  with  the  religious  spirit  of  the  times. 
It  is  here  that  Jesus  sets  "the  religion  of  the 
Spirit "  over  against  "  the  religions  of  authority,'* 
—  his  own  teaching  over  against  that  of  the  Phari- 
sees. And  it  is  just  here,  if  Protestantism  has  any 
message  for  the  world  at  all,  that  its  message  lies, 
as  over  against  the  message  of  Catholicism.^  Jesus 
knows  no  moral  or  religious  life  that  can  be  called 
genuine  at  all  that  is  not  the  man's  own,  the  ex- 
pression of  his  own  insight  and  his  own  choice. 
He  feels  an  element  of  pretense  wherever  the 
inner  life  takes  on,  as  its  own,  what  is  not  really 
so.  One  must  see  for  himself,  and  he  must  choose 
for  himself. 

This  basic  conception  of  the  necessary  inward-  Earnestness 
ness  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  life  inevitably  de-  f^,^  watch- 

^  -'  fulness. 

mands  from  Jesus  that  deadly  earnestness  on  his 

various  situations  of  life.      Cf.  pp.  32,  53,  78,  108,  237,  241.      Cf. 
Herrmann,  Ethik,  §  23,  pp.  126  ff.,  especially  p.  127. 

^Cf.  Herrmann,  Ethik,  §  23,  pp.  I26ff'.;   Dunn,  "The  Romantic 
Element  in  the  Ethics  of  Christ,"  Hibhert  Journal,  July,  1908. 

2Cf.   Herrmann,  Faith  and  Morals,  pp.  115  ff.,  118  ff.,  174  ff., 
262  ff.  J   Harnack,  What  is  Christianity  ?,  pp.  268  ff. 
G 


82  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

part  which  we  have  noted,  as  to  the  seriousness 
of  life,  and  leads  him  to  require  just  such  thorough- 
going earnestness  in  others.  If  it  is  true  that,  in 
order  that  there  may  be  any  spiritual  life  at  all,  it 
must  be  thorough,  unified,  and  one's  own,  then 
nothing  but  thoroughgoing  earnestness  will  suf- 
fice (17,  18,  19,  20,  21,  22).  And  out  of  this 
sense  of  the  momentous  seriousness  of  life  grows, 
naturally,  his  demand  for  vigilant  watchfulness 
(31;  cf.  29). 
Laws  of  Jesus'  Statement  of  the  laws  of  use  and  of  habit, 

habit  and       — ^^^^   ^^^  must  use  his   powcrs   or    lose  them 

efl&ciency.  ^ 

(7,  8,  11),  and  of  the  law  of  efficiency^  or  of  the 
simple  life,  —  the  sacrifice  of  the  relative  goods 
(17,  19,  29),  are  simply  particular  illustrations  of 
this  same  earnestness,  and  indicate  places  at  which 
watchfulness  must  be  applied. 
The  unity  But  Jesus*  Conception  of  the  end  of  life  as  love, 

bving  life  n^akes  it  clear  that  the  unity  of  life  sought  is  the 
unity  of  a  loving  life  (i,  [26]  ) ;  and  this  genuinely 
and  thoroughly  loving  Hfe  requires  complete  denial 
of  the  selfish  life  (17).  And  all  these  demands  on 
the  individual  life  may  be  derived  from  love :  love 
is  thoroughgoing,  taking  on  every  obligation  of 
love,  hence  the  unity  and  integrity  of  life;  love 
must  be  absolutely  genuine,  from  the  heart,  hence, 
the  inwardness  of  life ;  love,  therefore,  cannot 
help  being  in  earnest,  and  consequently  watchful 
for  opportunity  and  against  failure ;  love,  therefore, 
demands  expression  in  obedience,  in  the  law  of  use 
and  habit ;  whatever  interferes  with  the  best  ser- 


H    UNIVtKJ>ll  T 

THE   DOUBLY   ATTESTED    SAYINGS  83 

vice  and  expression  of  love  must  go,  hence  the  law 
of  efficiency  and  simplicity. 

Jesus'   ideal  for  the   individual,  thus,  involves  The  ideal 
complete  unity  of  life,  absolute  integrity  of  Hfe,  |°^^^uai 
moral  independence  and  inwardness,  earnestness, 
vigilant  watchfulness,  simplicity,  and  efficiency,  and 
the  life  of  unselfish  love. 

In  relation  to  others}  this  same  sense  of  the  in  relation 
momentous  seriousness  of  life,  as  the  saying  on  *°  °^  ^'^^' 
the  stumbling  of  others  indicates,  still  pervades  all, 
and  calls  for  obedience  to  the  law  of  contagion  of 
the  good  (10,  20),  to  the  law  of  sacrifice,  of  self- 
giving  love  (i,  17),  to  the  law  of  reverence  for  the 
person  ([6],  14,  15,  18),  to  the  law  of  priority  by 
service  (22;  cf.  27),  and  to  the  law  of  the  sharing 
of  all  goods  (14). 

The   thoroughgoing  unity  of   the  whole  moral  The  unity 
conception  of  Jesus,  as  reflected  in  these  doubly  ^^ J^^^  ^^°^^ 
attested  sayings,  may  be  thus  brought  out :  Jesus  ception  of 
seeks  a  genuine  moral  and  spiritual  life  for  every  J^^^' 
man  that  shall  be  truly  his  own,  the  fruit  of  his 
own  insight,  of  his  own  choice.     To  the  mind  of 
Jesus  there  is   no  moral   and  spiritual  life  at  all  inwardness 
without  this.     He  must,  therefore,  demand  of  all,  p^^^j^^jf^J^ 
even  with  reference  to  himself,  inwardness  and  in- 
dependence of  moral  and  spiritual  life  (in  the  sense 
of  being  one's  own,  not  in  the  sense  of  ignoring 
others,  or  cutting  himself  off  from  others).     Jesus 
is  certain,  that  is,  that  neither  God  nor  man  can 

iCf.  Macfadyen,  "Social  Theories  and  the  Teaching  of  Jesus," 
Expository  Times,  February,  1908,  p.  222. 


candor. 


84  THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

hand  over  insights  and  choices  of  good,  as  so  much 
dead,  passive  property,  to  another.  In  this  sphere, 
therefore,  nothing  can  be  achieved  simply  by  au- 
thority, nothing  is  merely  external,  nothing  is  laid 
on  from  without ;  all  is  necessarily  a  growth  from 
within. 
Absolute  But  if  the  man  of  the  right  life  (the  disciple  of 

Jesus)  is  to  be  absolutely  true  to  the  inner  vision, 
he  needs  to  see  straight ;  and  that  will  require,  in 
the  next  place,  that  he  be  honest,  candid,  open- 
minded,  humble  or  teachable,  free  from  prejudice. 
That  is,  he  must  have  what  we  moderns  call  the 
scientific  spirit.  He  must  not  declare  against  a 
manifest  good  work  as  due  to  evil.  There  will  be 
no  end  of  self-stultification  if  he  starts  on  that 
course.  Only  utter  inner  moral  confusion  could 
result.  He  would  have  no  insights  that  he  could 
trust ;  having  played  fast  and  loose  with  his  moral 
judgment,  he  could  not  rely  upon  it  (2,  3,  4).  Just 
as  the  scientist's  one  desire  is  to  get  at  the  exact 
facts,  and  just  as  he  has  the  wholesome  sense  that 
any  furthering  of  his  pet  theory  in  the  end  could 
be  of  no  avail  against  the  facts,  so  the  disciple  of 
the  righteous  life  has  one  sole  desire,  —  to  know 
the  truth  (or,  in  rehgious  language,  to  know  and 
do  the  will  of  God),  to  learn  to  Hve  the  life  of  love, 
to  follow  Jesus  as  the  master  of  the  ideal  life,  with- 
out prejudice,  without  willfulness,  with  no  trace 
of  falseness.  All  these  —  prejudice,  willfulness, 
falseness  —  would  only  hinder  the  disciple's  one 
great  end. 


THE    DOUBLY    ATTESTED    SAYINGS  85 

Now  the  one  desire  to  know  and  do  the  truth,   Conditions 
to  do  the  true  and  right  thing  (to  do  the  will  of  ^^^^^i"" 
God),  in  itself  gives  great  singleness  of  vision.^  insight. 
And  a  truly  loving  life  has,  moreover,  deep  instinc- 
tive insights.     The  humble,  unprejudiced,  deeply 
earnest  life  has  a  right  to  expect,  therefore,  the 
needed  clearness  of  inner  vision ;  for  his  very  single- 
ness of  aim  assures  the  single  eye,^  and  the  ear- 
nestly loving  life  will  have  in  that  very  love  a  further 
guard  against  erring  insight. 

All  this,  then,  clearly  demands,  from  the  man  Earnestness, 
who  is  to  have  an  inner  spiritual  life  and  to  be  able  watchfui- 

^  ness,  open- 

to  trust  his  inner  vision,  to  trust  his  moral  insights,  mindedness. 

earnestness,  —  that  is,  the  conviction  that  life  means 
something,  is  thoroughly  worth  while,  and  that  there 
is  law  in  it;  and  vigilajtt  watchfulness ;  and  honest, 
candid,  humble,  open-mindedness,  —  that  is,  the 
scientific  qualities.  So,  and  only  so,  can  come  a 
justified  trust  in  the  inner  vision,  and  truth  to  the 
inner  vision. 

When  the  ethical  inferences  from  the  doubly  at-  Conclusion, 
tested  sayings  are  compared  with  the  ethical  em- 
phases in  the  Schmiedel  passages,^  it  will  be  seen 
that  every  one  of  those  ethical  emphases  appears 
again  in  the  doubly  attested  sayings.  And,  in  both 
cases,  it  is  not  merely  subsidiary  but  plainly  basic, 
moral  principles,  which  come  into  view.  This 
ethical  agreement  of  two  groups  of  undoubtedly 

1  Cf.  John  5  :  30;   Drummond,  The  Ideal  Life,  pp.  302  ff. 

2  Cf.  Matt.  6 :  22-23. 
^  See  pp.  46-47. 


S6  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

authentic  sayings  of  Jesus,  originally  selected  from 
different  and  even  contrasted  points  of  view,  is 
significant,  and  gives  assurance  that  in  these  pas- 
sages we  have  a  secure  foundation  for  the  study 
of  the  ethics  of  Jesus. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE  ETHICAL  TEACHING  IN  MARK  AND  IN  THE 
OTHER  COMMON  SOURCE  OF  MATTHEW  AND 
LUKE.     THE  OLDEST  SOURCES. 

From  the  bird's-eye  view  of  the  entire  teaching 
of  Jesus  in  Luke,  from  the  ethical  notes  in  Schmie- 
del's  **  foundation-pillar "  passages,  and  from  the 
laws  of  life  discerned  in  the  doubly  attested  say- 
ings, we  turn  now,  in  seeking  our  composite  photo- 
graph of  the  teaching,  to  the  writings  recognized 
as  in  all  probability  the  oldest  and  most  certain 
sources  for  the  life  and  teaching  of  Jesus  as  a 
whole, — the  Gospel  of  Mark,  and  the  other  com- 
mon source  of  Matthew  and  Luke,  called  Q.  And 
we  are  first  to  take  up  the  ethical  teaching  in  Q, 
building  upon  Harnack's  reconstruction  of  that 
document. 

I.    The  ethical  teaching  in  Q. 

It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  in  Q  we  prob-  Estimate 
ably  have  an  even  older  source  for  the  life  and 
teaching  of  Jesus  than  in  Mark.^  Harnack's  own 
conclusions  as  to  the  value  of  Q  are  indicated  in 
these  sentences  :  "  If  we  consider  Q  apart  from  its 
introduction  (sections  i  and  2),  we  see  at  once  that 
we  are  dealing  with  a  document   of  the   highest 

^  Cf.  Harnack,  The  Sayings  of  Jesus,  pp.  193  ff.,  220  ff.,  246  ff., 
especially  226-228,  246-249. 

87 


of  Q. 


88  THE    ETHICS    OF  JESUS 

antiquity — there  is  here  no  need  of  proof;  but  even 
if  we  take  into  our  view  Q  together  with  the  intro- 
duction, there  is  little  difference  in  the  final  verdict." 
"  Q,  a  compilation  of  sayings  originally  written  in 
Aramaic  {vide  Wellhausen,  Nestle,  and  others),  be- 
longs to  the  apostolic  epoch.  This  is  shown  by 
its  form  and  contents,  nor  can  I  discern  any  reasons 
for  a  contrary  opinion."  "  But  whoever  the  author, 
or  rather  the  redactor,  of  Q  may  have  been,  he  was 
a  man  deserving  of  the  highest  respect.  To  his 
reverence  and  faithfulness,  to  his  simple-minded 
common  sense,  we  owe  this  priceless  compilation 
of  the  sayings  of  Jesus."  ^  The  entire  extent  of 
Q  as  reconstructed  by  Harnack  is  201  verses.  The 
order  of  the  sayings,  in  his  judgment,  is  not  in  any 
case  specially  significant  and  is  usually  doubtful, 
and  certainly  is  not  material  for  our  study  of  the 
ethical  teaching.^  Matthew's  form  of  the  sayings 
in  Q  is  probably,  all  things  considered,  to  be  pre- 
ferred in  most  cases  to  that  of  Luke,  ^  and  our  dis- 
cussion will  follow  Matthew's  version.* 

1  Harnack,  op.  cii.,  pp.  246,  247-248,  249.  Cf.  von  Soden, 
History  of  Early  Christian  Literature,  pp.  129  ff.;  Jiilicher,  An 
Introduction  to  the  New  Testament,  p.  358. 

2Cf.  Harnack,  op.  cit.,  pp.  171,  178-179. 

*Cf.  Harnack,  op.  cit.,  pp.  xii,  37,  180  note;  Wernle,  The 
Sources  of  our  Knowledge  of  the  Life  of  Jesus,  p.  142;  Bacon, 
Introduction  to  the  New  Testament,  p.  203. 

*The  teaching  passages  in  Q  in  Matthew's  order  include,  in 
Harnack's  reconstruction,  Jesus'  replies  in  the  temptation  narrative; 
58  out  of  97  verses  of  Matthew's  version  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount;  and  then  a  series  of  longer  and  shorter  sayings  in  chapters 
8  to  25  in  Matthew;  the  incident  of  the  scribe  and  another  who 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN    Q  89 

Omitting  all  narrative,  all  the  non-ethical,  all  the  The 
passages  already  covered,  and  all  passages  from  Q^^^^be  ^^ 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  sayings  in  Q  to  be  studied. 

would  follow  Jesus  (Matt.  8 :  19-22) ;  the  saying  as  to  the  plenteous 
harvest  (Matt.  9  :  37-38) ;  23  verses  in  the  discourse  on  the  com- 
mission of  the  Twelve  (Matt.  10  :  7,  10,  12,  13,  15,  16,  24-40); 
considerable  parts  of  the  discourse  as  to  John  the  Baptist,  the  up- 
braiding of  the  cities,  and  the  great  thanksgiving  (Matt,  ii :  2-13, 
16-27);  the  Beelzebub  section  and  the  denial  of  a  sign  (Matt. 
12:  25,  27-30,  32,  33,  38-45)  ;  the  saying  "  Blessed  are  your  eyes," 
and  the  parables  of  the  mustard  seed  and  the  leaven  (Matt.  13  :i6- 
17,  31-33);  the  short  sayings, —  "If  the  blind  lead  the  blind" 
(Matt.  15  :  14),  and  *'  If  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed" 
(Matt.  17:  20);  various  sayings  in  the  i8th  chapter,  —  "occasions 
of  stumbling,"  the  parable  of  the  lost  sheep, "  If  thy  brother  sin, 
how  oft  forgive"  (Matt.  18:  7,  12,  13,  15,  21,  22);  "Ye  shall  sit 
on  twelve  thrones"  (Matt.  19:28);  "the  publicans  and  harlots 
believed  him"  (John)  (Matt.  21 :  32) ;  the  parable  of  the  marriage  of 
the  king's  son  (Matt.  22:  2-1 1)  (doubtful);  ii  verses  giving  the 
"woes"  on  the  Pharisees  (Matt.  23:4,  12,  13,  23,  25-39);  and  17 
verses  from  the  eschatological  discourse  (Matt.  24:26-28,  37-41, 
43-51),  and  the  parable  of  the  talents  (Matt.  25  :  14-30)  (doubtful). 

In  other  words,  the  teaching  sections  in  Q,  as  given  in  Matthew's 
form,  may  be  said  to  include  the  temptation  replies  of  Jesus;  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount;  considerable  parts  of  grouped  sayings  of 
Matthew,  — the  commission  of  the  Twelve  in  chapter  10,  the  dis- 
course on  John  the  Baptist,  etc.,  in  chapter  11,  the  "woes"  on  the 
Pharisees  in  chapter  23,  and  the  eschatological  discourse  in  chapter 
24;  the  three  parables  of  the  mustard  seed,  the  leaven,  and  the 
lost  sheep;  and  "  perhaps  "  the  two  parables  of  the  marriage  of  the 
king's  son,  and  of  the  talents;  the  sayings  in  the  Beelzebub  section 
and  the  sign  denied,  in  chapter  12;   and  nine  other  short  sayings. 

In  the  list  of  the  passages  so  given,  for  our  present  discussion  we 
may  omit,  in  the  first  place,  those  already  covered  in  the  discussion 
of  Schmiedel  and  of  the  doubly  attested  sayings.  This  will  enable 
us  to  leave  out  of  present  consideration  the  commission,  proper,  of 
the  Twelve  in  chapter  10,  the  first  part  of  the  discourse  on  John  the 


90  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

taken  up  for  present  consideration  are  the  follow- 
ing, as  arranged  in  the  order  of  Matthew  :  — 

1.  Matt.  4:  4,  7,  10.     The  temptation  replies. 

2.  Matt.  8  :  19-22.     "The  foxes  have  holes,"  etc.     "Leave 

the  dead  to  bury  their  own  dead." 

3.  Matt.  10  :  24-39.     "  A  disciple  is  not  above  his  teacher," 

etc.     "  Be  not  afraid  of  them  that  kill  the  body,"  etc. 
"Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  send  peace,"  etc. 

4.  Matt.  II  :  16-19.     The  children  in  the  market  places. 

5.  Matt.  15  :  14.     "If  the  blind  guide  the  blind,"  etc. 

6.  Matt.  18:  12-13,  15)  21-22.     Parable  of  the  lost  sheep. 

"  Shew  him  his  fault  between  thee  and  him  alone,"  etc. 
"  How  oft  forgive." 

7.  Matt.  21 :  32.    "  The  publicans  and  harlots  believed  him  " 

(John). 

8.  Matt.  22:2-11.     Parable  of  the  marriage  of  the  king's 

son.     (Doubtful.) 

9.  Matt.  23:4,    12,   13,  23,  25-36.      Denunciation  of  the 

Pharisees. 
10.   Matt.  25  :  14-30.     Parable  of  the  talents.     (Doubtful.) 

Baptist,  all  the  passages  in  chapter  12,  the  parable  of  the  mustard 
seed,  with  which  perhaps  the  parable  of  the  leaven  may  be  taken,  and 
the  short  sayings,  —  "  If  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  " 
(Matt.  17  :  20),  and  as  to  "occasions  of  stumbling"  (Matt.  18:  7). 
The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  also,  is  deferred  for  later,  separate  con- 
sideration. For  our  special  study  of  the  ethical  teaching  of  Jesus,  all 
purely  eschatological  passages,  and  those  bearing  on  the  person  and 
special  claims  of  Christ,  of  which  there  are  many  (cf.  Harnack's 
list,  The  Sayings  of  Jesus,  pp.  235  ff.),  also  may  be  omitted.  This 
would  leave  out  of  consideration  the  saying  concerning  the  twelve 
thrones,  which  Harnack  regards  as  doubtfully  belonging  to  Q  in 
any  case,  all  the  eschatological  discourse  in  chapter  24,  the  dis- 
course as  to  John  the  Baptist  (Matt.  11  :  2-13),  the  "  woes  "  to  the 
cities  (11 :  20-24),  the  great  thanksgiving  (11 :  25-27),  two  verses 
in  the  loth  chapter  (15  and  40),  the  saying  "  Blessed  are  your 
eyes"  (13:16-17),  and  the  saying  as  to  the  plenteous  harvest 
(9:37-38). 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN   Q  9 1 

It  should  be  carefully  borne  in  mind  that  these 
passages  must  be  supplemented  by  the  doubly 
attested  sayings  and  by  a  large  part  of  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  to  get  a  true  impression  of  the  en- 
tire ethical  teaching  in  Q. 

In  the  study  of  this  special  material  in  Q,  we  The  back- 
turn  naturally,  first  of  all,  to  Jesus'  replies  in  the  fhrtempL 
narrative  of  the  temptation.  As  Professor  Bacon  tions. 
has  pointed  outji  the  temptation  narrative  is  probably 
the  surest  bit  of  autobiography  that  comes  to  us 
from  Jesus,  and  his  replies  are  particularly  signifi- 
cant as  indicating  his  point  of  view  from  the  begin- 
ning of  his  pubhc  ministry.  Even  in  Q  it  seems 
probable  that  these  temptations  of  Jesus  come  at  a 
time  when  he  has  definitely  left  his  private  life  be- 
hind him,  and  follow  the  special  experience  of  the 
baptism,  in  which  he  had  received,  in  some  way, 
assurance  of  his  divine  sonship,  with  all  that  that 
must  mean  of  mission  and  power.  It  seems  plain 
that  this  threefold  consciousness  of  Jesus  —  of  son- 
ship,  of  divine  mission,  and  of  its  implied  power  — 
determines  the  form,  the  meaning,  and  the  appeal 
of  the  temptations.  They  gather  about  the  ques- 
tions now  pressing  so  irresistibly  upon  him :  what 
does  it  mean  to  be  the  Son  of  God  ?  what  exactly 
is  my  mission  ?  how  may  I  use  the  power  involved  P^ 

The  elements  of  this  threefold  consciousness  —  jesus' 
of   power,   of   mission,  and  of  sonship  —  are  for 

1  American  Journal  of  Theology^  July,  1898. 

2  Cf.  Sanday,  art.  "Jesus  Christ,"  H.  D.  B.,  p.  612;  Fairbairn, 
The  Place  of  Christ  in  Modern  Theology,  pp.  349  ff . 


answers. 


92 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


No  abuse  of 
trust. 


Spiritual 
sensitiveness. 


No  relief  in 
change  of 
circum- 
stances. 


Jesus  a  divine  call,  to  which  he  makes  answer:  I 
must  be  worthy  of  the  power  granted ;  I  must  be  a 
consistent  founder  of  a  spiritual  kingdom ;  I  must 
prove  a  true  son.  And  one  cannot  be  a  consistent 
founder  of  a  spiritual  kingdom,  it  is  to  be  noted, 
except  upon  three  conditions :  constant  spiritual 
sensitiveness,  undying  faith  in  men,  and  refusal  to 
seek  relief  in  change  of  circumstances  rather  than 
in  change  of  self. 

Each  of  the  temptations  of  Jesus,  thus,  from 
one  point  of  view,  was  a  temptation  to  the  abuse 
of  trusty  and,  to  all  alike,  his  answer  is  simply  the 
insistence  that  his  power  is  given  him  for  the  sake 
of  the  kingdom.  It  is  a  great  trust,  and  not  to 
be  used  for  any  personal  advantage. 

And  if  one  is  never  to  abuse  his  trust,  he  may 
not  fall  below  his  highest  spiritual  sensitiveness. 
This  was  the  only  way  of  deliverance  for  Jesus 
himself.  He  needed  the  clearest  spiritual  insight, 
to  see  the  meaning  of  his  trust,  to  see  that,  as 
founder  of  a  spiritual  kingdom  calling  to  funda- 
mental love  and  self-sacrifice,  he  must  fight  as  his 
disciples ;  he  cannot  himself  refuse  to  live  the  un- 
selfish life,  to  share  the  common  lot. 

He  may  not,  therefore,  in  the  third  place,  escape 
hard  situations  by  changing  the  circumstances.  This 
is  neither  the  road  to  character,  nor  is  it  one  in 
which  he  can  call  others  to  walk.  **  Man  doth  not 
live  by  bread  alone."  His  victory  must  be  inner, 
not  outer. 

Jesus'  answers  to  these  temptations,  again,  were 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN    Q  93 

the  resistance,  from  another  point  of  view,  of  the  Faith  in 
temptation  to  disbelief  in  me7t ;  for  all  three  forms  °^^°' 
of  his  temptation  urge  the  advisability  of  begin- 
ning with  the  lower  appeal,  the  appeal  either  to 
men's  bodily  needs,  or  to  their  love  of  the  marvel- 
ous, or  to  their  sense  of  fear.  And  in  repudiating 
wholly  the  primary  claim  of  any  of  these  lower 
appeals,  Jesus  affirms  his  deep  faith  in  men.  He 
will  have  no  kingdom  simply  by  bread,  nor  by 
marvel  and  ecstasy,  nor  by  force.  He  will  be  fol- 
lowed by  those  who  follow  him  for  his  own  sake, 
because  of  his  inner  appeal.  Once  more,  "  Man 
doth  not  live  by  bread  alone." 

And,  finally,  Jesus'  answers  here  are  the  resist-  Faith  in 
ance  of  the  temptation  to  distrust  of  God,  For  when 
one  believes  that  there  is  no  possibility  of  using 
effectively  with  men  purely  moral  and  spiritual 
forces,  he  disbelieves  not  only  in  men,  but  he 
shows  an  even  deeper  distrust  in  the  character  of 
God.  And  Jesus  knew  that  if  he  was  to  be  a  con- 
sistent builder  of  a  genuinely  spiritual  kingdom, 
he  must  be  willing  to  use  the  highest  means,  and 
trust  the  results  with  God.  He  must  not  demand 
from  God  victory  on  some  lower  terms.  "  Thou 
shalt  not  make  trial  of  the  Lord  thy  God."  "  Thou 
shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only 
shalt  thou  serve." 

Since   the   doubly   attested   sayings  are  all,  in  Three 
Burkitt's  view,  contained  in  Q,  it  is   evident  that  ^^''^^}  ^°*5^ 

'  ^=^'  to  guide  dis- 

we  should  find  expressed  in  Q  all  those  laws  of  cussion. 
life,  which,  in  the  last  chapter,  were  derived  from 


94 


THE   ETHICS    OF  JESUS 


Contrast 
with 

Pharisaic 
spirit. 


The  reason 
for  Jesus' 
position. 


the  doubly  attested  sayings.  To  these  we  need 
not  return.  But  in  the  ethical  passages  listed 
from  Q,  outside  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  and 
the  temptation  replies  just  considered,  there  are 
three  thoughts  more  fully  developed  than  in  the 
briefer  statements  of  the  doubly  attested  sayings : 
the  contrast  with  the  Pharisaic  spirit,  the  necessity 
of  sympathetic  and  tender  forgiveness,  and  the 
sense  of  the  seriousness  of  life.  And  these  three 
recurring  ethical  notes  may  guide  the  discussion  of 
the  passages  selected  from  Q. 

I.  These  sayings  in  Q,  as  reported  by  Matthew, 
bring  out  with  special  sharpness  the  sense  of  the 
contrast  of  his  message  and  spirit  with  that  of  the 
Pharisees;  for  Q  includes  not  only  the  passages 
of  this  kind  already  considered,  but  many  of  those 
sayings  of  direct  denunciation  of  the  Pharisaic 
spirit  which  Matthew  has  grouped  in  his  23d 
chapter.  That  is,  Q  brings  out  not  only  that 
Jesus  himself  conceived  his  message  as  contrasted 
with  the  prevalent  religious  spirit  of  his  time,  but 
sets  forth  with  some  precision  the  points  of  con- 
trast as  they  lie  in  his  mind. 

One  can  hardly  doubt  that  the  remarkable  study 
of  moral  blindness,  which  Luke  gives  in  the  group- 
ing of  passages  in  his  chapter  11,^  furnishes  at  least 
the  true  psychological  setting  for  these  denuncia- 
tions of  the  Pharisaic  spirit.  It  evidently  seems 
to  Jesus  that  he  may  not  evade  the  conflict,  or 
allow  the  issue  to  be  disguised  ;  his  position  must 

1  See  pp.  23-24. 


THE    ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN   Q  95 

be  decisively  discriminated  from  the  religious  spirit 
of  his  time,  for  he  feels  that  they  have  betrayed 
the  very  sanctuary  of  religion.  In  their  moral 
blindness  they  cannot  see  the  real  values  involved. 
That  is  to  say,  the  reason  for  Christ's  indignant 
vehemence  here  is  found  in  the  fact  that  he  feels 
that,  in  this  self-perverted  vision,  he  faces  the 
possibility  of  utter  spiritual  ruin,  where  the  very 
conscience  that  should  prompt  to  right  urges  wrong 
and  justifies  itself  as  right,  where  the  man  can 
give  pious  reasons  for  shameless  moral  apostasy. 
The  text  of  all  might  be  said  to  be  the  saying  in 
the  parallel  passage  in  Luke,  "  Look  therefore 
whether  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be  not  darkness." 

To  take  these  denunciatory  sayings  (Matt.  23 :  Shutting 
4,  12,  13,  23,  25-36)1  in  the  order  in  which  Harnack  ^^^^^_ 
believes  that  they  occurred  in  Q,  Jesus  is  here  set- 
ting in  contrast  with  his  own  moral  and  spiritual 
demand,  first,  the  spirit  that  satisfies  itself  with 
deducing  theoretically  the  heavy  burdens  of  the 
law  for  others,  but  excuses  itself  from  any  prac- 
tical undertaking  of  these  burdens,  —  the  danger, 
always,  of  the  professional  reformer,  the  theo- 
retical moralist,  the  exegete,  or  the  theologian. 
"They  bind  heavy  burdens  and  grievous  to  be 
borne,  and  lay  them  on  men's  shoulders ;  but  they 
themselves  will  not  move  them  with  their  finger  " 
(Matt.  23  :  4).  This  is  the  spirit  that,  by  its  in- 
terpretation of  the  truth,  turns  men  away  from  the 
path  of  righteousness,  while  it  makes  no  attempt 

1  Cf.  Ecce  Homo,  pp.  286  ff. ;  Bruce,  Tht  Kingdom  of  God,  ch.  VIII. 


96  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

to  enter  itself.  "  Ye  shut  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
against  men  :  for  ye  enter  not  in  yourselves,  neither 
suffer  ye  them  that  are  entering  in  to  enter"  (Matt. 
23  :  13).  The  real  content  and  truth  of  righteous- 
ness, Jesus  believes,  in  the  teaching  at  least  of 
many  of  the  Pharisees,  was  obscured  and  hid- 
den, rather  than  brought  forth  into  the  light. 
Making  The  Spirit  which  Jesus  here  denounces  is,  too, 

uty  pe  y.  ^j^^^  which  makes  duty  petty  and  naggings  neces- 
sarily destitute  of  the  great  enthusiasms,  of  judg- 
ment and  mercy,  and  begets  only  an  anxious 
abiding  by  little  rules.  "  Ye  tithe  mint  and  anise 
and  cummin,  and  have  left  undone  the  weightier 
matters  of  the  law,  justice,  and  mercy,  and  faith  ** 
(Matt.  23  :  23).  Jesus  is  here  protesting  against 
the  danger  of  those  petty  enactments  that  were 
originally  in  all  good  faith  intended  by  the  Pharisee 
to  protect  the  law  of  righteousness,^  but  are  so 
likely  to  become  a  substitute  for  that  law.  The 
whole  history  of  asceticism  justifies  the  protest 
which  here  he  makes.  Men  have  always  been 
prone  to  seek  out  petty  self-crucifixions  to  be  put 
in  place  of  the  plain  and  common  demands  of 
everyday  human  relations,  —  to  tithe  with  much 
painstaking  and  self-satisfaction  the  herbs  of  the 
back  kitchen  garden — mint  and  anise  and  caraway 
seed  —  and  feel  no  remorse  for  rank  injustice  and 
the  constantly  unmerciful  spirit.  This  criticism  of 
Jesus  is  precisely  like  that  which  is  being  made 

1  Mathews,  A  History  of  New  Testament  Times  in  Palestincy 
pp.  64  fF. 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN    Q  9/ 

to-day  of  overtechnical  interpretations  of  the  law 
by  the  aid  of  great  lawyers,  that  enable  the  real 
ends  of  the  law  to  be  evaded;  and  he  is  demand- 
ing that  the  lawyers  of  every  period  should  have 
the  sense  of  being  put  in  trust  with  the  weighty 
ends  of  the  law, — justice  and  mercy;  and  not 
with  the  mere  study  of  technicalities  for  personal 
gain. 

Jesus  here  protests,  also,  against  the  punctilious  Carelessness 
care  for  the  outside^  for  that  which  shall  appear  in  ^^^^^^^  ^°^^ 
the  sight  of  men,  when  one  does  not  care  that  the 
inner  spirit  of  the  life  is  intemperate  and  tyran- 
nical. He  knows  no  life  that  penetrates  from 
without  in,  but  only  the  life  that  grows  from  within 
out.  "Ye  cleanse  the  outside  of  the  cup  and  of 
the  platter,  but  within  they  are  full  from  extortion 
and  excess"  (Matt.  23:25).  "Woe  unto  you! 
for  ye  are  as  tombs  which  appear  not,  and  the 
men  that  walk  over  them  know  it  not"  (Luke 
II :  44;  cf.  Matt.  23  :  27). 

These  verses  are  only  another  evidence  of  the  xheinevi- 
constant  insistence  of  Jesus  upon  the  necessary  in-  J^wardness 
wardness  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  life.     He  fears  of  life, 
nothing  for  men  more  than  that,  stopping  with  the 
outward  requirements   of  the  religious  life,  with 
respectability  in   the  sight   of  men,  they  should 
forget  altogether  the   absolute  necessity  of  inner 
integrity,  of  life   within.     He   cannot   forget  the 
awful  danger  of  these  men  about  him,  so  absorbed 
in  punctilious  observances,  that  quite  unwittingly 
it  should  be  true  of  them  that  they  shall  be  like 


98  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

tombs  that  have  been  whitened,  "  which  outwardly 
appear  beautiful,  but  inwardly  are  full  of  dead 
men's  bones,  and  of  all  uncleanness  "  (Matt.  23  : 
27).  With  his  deep  conviction  of  the  inevitable 
inwardness  of  life,  I  suppose  that  this  simile  of  the 
whitened  tomb  or  of  the  grave  over  which  men 
walked  and  knew  it  not,  had  burned  itself  into  his 
soul  again  and  again,  as  one  of  the  awful  possibil- 
ities of  life.  It  is  in  no  mere  spirit  of  denuncia- 
tion, therefore,  I  suppose,  that  he  speaks  these 
awful  words ;  but  rather  out  of  deep  consciousness 
of  the  need .  of  the  searching  warning  of  the 
prophet,  whose  words  must  get  home  to  lives 
deadened  the  more  to  the  appeal  to  conscience, 
because  content  in  religious  observance.  And,  if 
these  themselves  may  not  be  reached,  he  would  at 
least  save  others  from  following  them  in  their  peril 
of  wreck  of  character. 
Tradition-  It   is   Only   another   part  of   the    possible   and 

^rSrinn-"^  awful  couscquences  of  the  same  spirit  of  self- 
sight,  deception  that  leads  him  to  add,  "  Ye  build  the 
sepulchres  of  the  prophets  and  say.  If  we  had  been 
in  the  days  of  our  fathers,  we  should  not  have 
been  partakers  with  them  in  the  blood  of  the 
prophets.  Wherefore  ye  bear  witness  to  your- 
selves, that  ye  are  sons  of  them  that  slew  the 
prophets!"  (Matt.  23:29-31).  For  this,  too, 
is  a  danger  of  the  whole  external  conception  of 
the  moral  and  spiritual  Hfe.  Men  can  regard 
themselves  in  all  honesty  as  rendering  honor  to 
the  prophets  of  the  former  time,  —  an  honor  which 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN   Q  99 

has  now  become  conventional,  traditional,  and  re- 
spectable ;  while  at  the  same  time  they  have  no 
ear  for  the  message  of  the  prophet  that  to-day- 
would  search  their  heart,  and  no  willingness  to 
obey  that  message.  The  very  fact  that  they  are 
traditional  followers  of  the  former  prophets  makes 
them  dead  to  the  voice  of  the  living  prophet. 

In  harmony  with  this  sense  of  the  contrast  of 
his  message  and  spirit  with  that  of  the  Pharisees, 
there  is  to  be  seen  here,  once  more,  his  insistence 
upon  the  inevitable  inwardness  and  independence 
of  the  moral  and  spiritual  life,  in  the  succinct  sar- 
casm of  the  saying,  "If  the  blind  guide  the  blind, 
both  shall  fall  into  a  pit"  (Matt.  15  :  14). 

2.  The  sympathetic  and  forgiving  tenderness'^' Seeking  and 
which  Jesus  asks  from  the  man  of  the  righteous  J^^'g^^^^s 
life,  aside  from  the  passages  still  to  be  considered 
in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  comes  out  in  Q, 
especially  in  three  sayings  which  Matthew  gathers 
in  the  i8th  chapter.  Thus,  in  the  parable  of  the 
lost  sheep,  there  is  the  implied  demand  upon  man 
for  a  like  spirit  in  the  relation  of  man  to  man  as  is 
here  ascribed  to  God,  the  spirit  which  does  not  only 
barely  forgive,  but  must  seek  out  and  rejoice  over 
the  reconciliation   and   return   of   even  the  least 

1  Cf.  Bethune-Baker,  art.  "Forgiveness,"  H.  D.  B.,  p.  56:  "So 
closely  indeed  is  the  principle  associated  with  the  teaching  and 
work  of  Christ  that  forgiveness  has  been  called  *  Christ's  most  strik- 
ing innovation  in  morality '  and  the  phrase  *  a  Christian  spirit '  is 
commonly  regarded  as  synonymous  with  the  disposition  of  readiness 
to  forgive  an  injury."  Cf.  also  Ecce  Homo,  pp.  303  ff.,  316-312,  318, 
322. 


lOO  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

worthy  (i8  :  12-13).  The  saying,  "If  thy  brother 
sin  against  thee,  go,  show  him  his  fault  between 
thee  and  him  alone  :  if  he  hear  thee,  thou  hast 
gained  thy  brother"  (v.  15),  reveals  peculiarly 
Jesus'  sense  of  the  sacredness  of  the  person  and 
the  value  of  the  brother,  in  his  tender  suggestion 
that  even  the  one  sinned  against  is  to  seek  out  the 
other,  that  the  matter  is  to  be  between  the  two 
alone,  and  in  the  reminder  that  in  thus  bringing  one 
back  from  his  sin,  one  has  "gained  his  brother," 
—  has  not  only  restored  the  relation,  that  is,  for 

'    himself,  but  won  the  brother  back  into  life. 

J. 

The  duty  of        The  duty  of  unlimited  forgiveness  is  expressed 
unlimited       even  more  clearly  in  Jesus'  answer  to  the  question 

forgiveness.  j         j  ~y. 

of  Peter,  "How  oft  shall  my  brother  sin  against 
me,  and  I  forgive  him  }  until  seven  times  }  "  "  I 
say  not  unto  thee.  Until  seven  times ;  but,  Until 
seventy  times  seven"  (18:21-22).  The  parallel 
passage  in  Luke  (17:3-4)  has  also  prefaced  this 
saying  with  another,  "  If  thy  brother  sin,  rebuke 
him ;  and  if  he  repent,  forgive  him."  Taken  to- 
gether, these  sayings  plainly  teach,  on  the  one 
hand,  that  for  the  disciple  of  the  true  life  there  can 
be  no  limit  in  the  forgiving  spirit.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  command  to  "  rebuke "  sets  forth  the 
duty  of  holding  the  other  to  his  best,  of  reminding 
him  that  he  has  done  that  which  is  not  worthy  of 
him,  —  the  duty  to  be  no  flatterers,  spoiling  our 
friends  and  ministering  to  their  weaknesses,  but  to 
prove  ourselves  able  to  give  the  faithful  "  wounds 
of  a  friend."     There  is,  of  course,  involved  in  this 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING    IN    Q  lOI 

duty  of  rebuke  the  corresponding  willingness  on 
one's  own  part  to  take  rebuke,  patiently  to  hear, 
candidly  to  consider,  and,  if  the  case  demands, 
honestly  to  amend.  The  clause,  "  If  he  repent, 
forgive  him,"  is  no  excuse  for  cherishing  the  un- 
forgiving spirit,  but  the  recognition  of  the  fact  that 
one  person  alone  cannot  restore  the  relation  be- 
tween two  ;  but  the  forgiving  spirit  is,  nevertheless, 
imperative  always,  whether  the  other  repents  or 
not,  as  the  insistence  on  the  duty  of  unlimited 
forgiveness  impKes.  That  is,  the  true  disciple 
stands  always  ready  to  restore  the  relation,  where- 
ever  and  whenever  possible. 

3.  The   strongest  emphasis   in   these   passages  The  serious- 
selected  from  Q  is  that  upon  the  seriousness  of  life^  '^^^^  °    ^  ^' 
and  often  recurs. 

At  the  same  time  it  should  be  noted  that  with  Not  ascetic, 
this  dominating  sense  of  the  momentous  serious- 
ness of  life,  there  is,  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus  here, 
a  definite  setting  aside  of  the  merely  ascetic  spirit, 
in  the  contrast  he  makes  between  his  spirit  and 
that  of  John  the  Baptist,  in  the  application  of  the 
parable  of  the  children  in  the  marketplace  (Matt. 
II  :  16-19),  "The  Son  of  man  came  eating  and 
drinking."  This  combination  in  Jesus  of  the  earnest 
with  the  anti-ascetic  spirit  is  always  to  be  kept  in 
view,  and  it  is  one  of  the  evidences  of  the  clearness 
and  sanity  of  his  ethical  judgment. 

To  take  up  in  detail  the  passages  upon  the  seri-  Counting 
ousness  of  life,  it  may  first  be  noted  that  the  re-  *^^  ^°^*' 
plies  to  the  scribe  and  to  another  who  would  follow 


I02  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

him,  like  a  similar  passage  in  Luke  (14:  28-33), 
show  how  clearly  Jesus  wished  those  who  were  to 
follow  him  to  count  the  cost.  "The  foxes  have 
holes,  and  the  birds  of  heaven  have  nests ;  but  the 
Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head,"  is 
meant  to  bring  home  to  the  scribe  that  the  call  of 
Jesus  is  no  easy-going  one,  but  a  heroic  one,  —  a 
call  to  self-sacrifice,  a  call  which  in  its  very  nature 
is  intended  to  sift  men.  They  were  to  count  the 
cost  of  following  from  the  beginning,  and  still  to 
choose  to  follow  with  all  their  hearts.  In  the  an- 
swer to  the  other  who  would  follow  him,  —  "Leave 
the  dead  to  bury  their  own  dead,"  —  Jesus  is  prob- 
ably making  use  of  a  common  proverb  ^  to  set 
aside  what  he  feels  to  be  an  evasive  excuse  on  the 
part  of  the  man.  This  facility  in  making  excuses, 
in  deceiving  oneself  into  believing  that  one  is  loyal 
to  a  cause  while  he  excuses  himself  from  its  ser- 
vice, Jesus  cuts  in  on  by  this  reply.  The  disciple 
of  the  right  life  takes  on  at  once  new  and  tran- 
scendent claims.  There  can  be  no  indefinite  defer- 
ring of  obedience  to  those  claims  ;  one  is  to  act  in 
the  new  life,  and  according  to  its  spirit,  and  let  the 
dead  past  bury  its  dead. 
The  risks  The  saying,  "  Behold,  I  send  you  forth  as  sheep 

rigSeous        ^^  *^^  midst  of  wolves  "  (10  :  16)  is  a  recognition  of 
life.  the  risks  and  difficulty  of  the  mission  of  the  man 

who  has  determined  to  live  the  right  life,  who  is 
trying  to  make  another  spirit  than  the  selfish  one 
prevail  in  the  world.     Jesus  does  not  shut  his  own 

1  Cf.  D.  Smith,  art.  "  Proverbs,"  D.  C.  G. 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN   Q  IO3 

eyes,  and  he  means  that  his  disciples  shall  not  shut 
theirs,  to  the  inevitable  conflict  of  aims  between 
the  selfish  life  of  the  world  and  that  genuinely  un- 
selfish love  to  which  he  calls. 

In  the  saying,  "A  disciple  is  not  above  his  Motives  to 
teacher"  (10:  24-25  a),  Jesus  is  insisting  that  the  gervicfuke 
same  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  which  he  has  held  him-  that  of  Jesus, 
self  bound  to  show,  must  hold  for  every  disciple  of 
the  righteous  life.  All  are  to  manifest  the  same 
characteristics  and  to  expect  like  experiences  with 
him.  Their  lives  are  to  be  lived  upon  the  same 
principle  and  are  to  evince  the  same  service.  Ex- 
periences like  his,  therefore,  they  are  to  expect, 
to  count  on ;  by  them  they  are  not  to  be  dismayed. 
They  are  to  be  prepared  for  opposition.  Jesus 
never  anywhere  teaches  that  the  righteous  life 
means  exemption  from  hard  things.  But  he  does 
assure  his  disciples  that  the  true  spirit  will  save 
them  from  the  greatest  disaster,  the  only  one  that 
is  really  to  be  feared,  utter  wreck  of  life  (lo:  26- 
33).  "Fear  them  not  therefore:  for  there  is 
nothing  covered,  that  shall  not  be  revealed  "  ;  and 
"  Be  not  afraid  of  them  that  kill  the  body."  If 
you  are  right  and  true,  he  is  here  saying  in  sub- 
stance, you  may  be  glad  to  have  the  truth  come 
out;  you  have  no  occasion  to  fear  it;  and  the 
truth  will  out,  be  sure  (v.  26).  Moreover,  your  vic- 
tory is  the  victory  of  truth;  speak  out  boldly, 
therefore,  the  message  that  is  given  you  (v.  27). 
Your  adversaries,  at  the  worst,  without  your  own 
consent,  can  only  destroy  the  body ;  the  real  thing 


104  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

to  be  feared  is  not  death  of  the  body,  but  the 
triumph  of  temptation  in  the  loss  of  the  real 
meaning  of  life  (v.  28).  And  out  of  his  religious 
faith  he  adds,  You  can  be  sure  of  the  loving 
knowledge  of  the  Father  who  knows  and  cares ; 
he  has  not  forgotten,  though  it  may  so  seem  (vv. 
29-31);  though  here,  too,  it  is  to  be  noted  there  is 
no  promise  of  exemption  from  trial.  And  even  the 
purely  ethical  teacher,  as  we  have  seen,  must  build 
on  a  similar  faith  in  the  ethical  trend  of  the  uni- 
verse and  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  good. 
He,  too,  will  have  a  faith  answering  somewhat 
to  Jesus'  further  assurance  that  faithful  loyalty 
shall  be  owned,  even  in  the  presence  of  God,  while 
disloyalty  can  have  no  such  reward ;  it  can  only  be 
disowned  before  the  Father  (vv.  32-33). 
Duty's  Matthew's  next  paragraph  also  (vv.  34-39)  em- 

cW^^^  phasizes  this  same  sense  of  the  earnestness  of 
the  righteous  life,  — "  Think  not  that  I  came  to 
send  peace  on  the  earth."  In  this  paragraph 
Jesus  is  virtually  calling  attention  to  the  ethical 
principle  that  duty  makes  an  absolute  claim^  and 
will  necessarily  divide  in  spirit  those  who  will 
obey  from  those  who  will  not.  The  disciple  of 
the  truth  must  face  whatever  of  hardship  and 
separation,  even  from  the  dearest,  is  involved  in 
loyalty  to  truth  and  righteousness  as  they  are 
proclaimed  in  his  own  heart. 
The  great  The  whole  teaching  upon  the  earnestness  of  the 

righteous  life  may  perhaps  be  regarded  as  summed 
up  in  Jesus'  great  paradox,  that  must  often  have 


paradox. 


THE   ETHICAL    TEACHING   IN    Q  IO5 

recurred  in  his  teaching,  given  in  the  39th  verse, 
—  "  He  that  findeth  his  life  shall  lose  it ;  and  he 
that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake  shall  find  it,"  — 
the  great  principle  of  life  through  death,  of  self- 
development  through  self-surrender,  of  the  life  of 
love  through  the  giving  up  of  the  selfish  life,  of  a 
life  that  is  like  that  of  the  self-giving  God  as  the 
only  true  life. 

As  has  been  indicated,  Harnack  does  not  feel 
certain  that  the  parables  of  the  marriage  of  the 
king's  son,  and  of  the  talents,  were  found  in  Q ; 
but  as  there  seems  no  good  reason  to  deny  them  a 
place  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  they  may  be  fitly 
considered  here. 

The  parable  of  the  marriage  of  the  king's  son  Blind  in- 
(22:  2-1 1)  expresses  Jesus'  sense  of  the  folly  of  fo^thegreat 
the  strange  indifference  of  men  to  the  greatest  values. 
values  of  life.  Without  crowding  the  parable  into 
detailed  application,  Jesus  is  clearly  asserting  upon 
the  ethical  side  two  closely  related  truths :  first, 
the  strange  indifference  of  some  of  the  most  privi- 
leged to  the  greatest  values  of  life ;  and,  second, 
that  these  values  are  for  those  who  care,  not  for 
those  "bidden"  by  natural  opportunity  and  a  kind 
of  inherent  privilege,  but  for  those  who  feel  the 
sense  of  need,  who  care  ;  it  is  to  these  that  the 
values  of  life  are  open.  On  the  one  hand,  then, 
Jesus  is  illustrating  here  the  strange  and  blind 
indifference  to  the  greatest  values,  whether  it  be 
found  in  those  simply  engrossed  in  other  things, 
or  in  those  who  suffer  from  the  stupefying  effect 


I06  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

of  material  prosperity,  or  from  what  Professor 
Peabody  has  called  **  spiritual  satiety,"  "  living  on 
a  kind  of  left-over  morality,"  who  do  not  prize  the 
truth  because  they  have  not  fought  for  it,  who 
have  not  made  it  their  own,  to  live  and  to  die  for. 
For  such  any  excuse  will  do,  for  they  do  not  really 
care.  And  yet  how  strange  and  blind  this  indif- 
ference to  the  greatest,  this  curious  obsession  of 
the  passionate  pursuit  of  trifles,  as  over  against 
enthusiasm  for  the  highest  aims,  for  a  life  abun- 
dant, abiding,  eternal,  because  it  is  of  such  quality 
that  it  cannot  pass. 
The  King-  The  great  values  of  life  belong,  Jesus  insists 

fiwse^who       here,  in  the  second  place,  not  to  those  who  do  not 
care.  carc,  for  whom  any  excuse  will  do,  but  only  to 

those  who  care.  There  is  no  value  for  a  man 
where  he  does  not  care.  Is  there  anything,  then, 
for  which  one  cares  greatly,  concerning  which 
he  has  great  affections,  strong  interests,  enduring 
enthusiasm,  where  indignation  is  deeply  stirred  ? 
Has  one  awakened  to  what  "the  summoner's  call" 
to  life  really  means  ?  For  he  may  be  sure,  that 
the  Kingdom  is  for  those  who  care,  only  for  those 
who  care. 

Once  again,  then,  here  is  seen  in  strong  colors 
Jesus*  sense  of  the  need  of  downright  earnestness 
of  spirit. 
Parable  of  The    parable   of   the   talents,   also,   emphasizes 

the  talents,  jggus'  sensc  of  the  scriousncss  of  life  from  a 
slightly  different  point  of  view.  Back  of  the 
parable  which,  as  Bruce  says,  is  almost  an  alle- 


THE   ETHICAL    TEACHING   IN   Q  10/ 

gory,  lie  a  series  of  plain  truths.  First  of  all,  that 
life  and  all  its  powers  are  a  trust  given  to  all. 
This  is  exactly  the  conception  that  is  taking  hold 
on  men  to-day  as  never  before,  that  their  calling 
is  a  social  and  a  divine  trust ;  and  where  this  has 
been  forgotten,  there  has  been  sordid  selfishness, 
if  not  flaunting  injustice  and  neglect.  The  par- 
able brings  out,  also,  the  varying  degrees  of  dili- 
gence in  use  of  opportunity,  and  the  reward  of 
still  larger  trusts  in  proportion  to  that  diligence. 
The  parable  expresses,  as  well,  Jesus'  sense  of  the 
pitiful  and  blameworthy  failure  of  the  life  that  is 
willing  to  be  simply  useless,  a  barren  life,  a  cum- 
berer  of  the  ground,  having  a  spirit  Uke  that  set 
forth  in  the  parable  of  the  barren  fig  tree  in  Luke. 

In  the  ethical  teaching  in  Q,  outside  the  Sermon  Conclusion 
on  the  Mount,  there  are  to  be  found,  then,  the  laws  °^  ^' 
of  life,  seen  in  the  doubly  attested  sayings,  to- 
gether with  the  clear  vision  of  life's  fundamental 
temptations,  shown  in  the  Temptation  replies  of 
Jesus,  and  the  three  special  emphases,  —  contrast 
with  the  Pharisaic  spirit,  the  necessity  of  sympa- 
thetic and  tender  forgiveness,  and  the  sense  of  the 
seriousness  of  life.  These  results  confirm  and  en- 
large the  conclusions  of  the  previous  studies.  The 
Temptation  replies  show,  as  truly  now  as  the  day 
they  were  spoken,  the  spirit  in  which  all  high  work 
must  be  conceived,  and  the  conditions  by  which 
alone  it  can  be  carried  to  success.  They  are  a 
single  application  of  Jesus*  fundamental  principles, 
as  brought  out  in  "the  laws  of  life,"  while  the 


io8 


THE   ETHICS    OF    JESUS 


Outline  of 
the  entire 
teaching  in 
Mark. 


three  special  emphases  make  still  more  clear  the 
depth  and  breadth  of  his  ethical  vision. 

II.    The  ethical  teaching  in  Mark. 

In  turning  to  the  ethical  teaching  in  Mark,  the 
second  of  the  oldest  sources,  it  may  be  worth  while, 
first  of  all,  to  see  that  teaching  against  the  back- 
ground of  a  summary  statement  of  the  entire 
teaching  in  Mark.  The  entire  teaching  in  Mark 
may  be  thus  grouped  according  to  the  great  divi- 
sions of  the  book.i 

I.   The  proclamation  of  the  Kingdom,     i :  14-4 :  34. 

1.  The  highest  good;  life  for  all  on  spiritual  conditions. 

1:14-15. 

2.  His  method ;    the  good  seed ;    the  children  of  the 

Kingdom.     1:17.     Cf.  3  :  13-19. 

3.  His  motive  and  goal :  love  and  the  civilization  of  the 

loving  life.     2:17.     Cf.  i  :  38. 

4.  His    revolutionary    relation    to     the     older    epoch. 

2  :  19-3  :  6. 

i)  The  new  spirit  of  rejoicing  sonship  is  too  great 
for  any  of  the  old  forms.  The  parables  of  the 
undressed  cloth  and  of  the  new  wine-skins. 
2 :  19-22. 

2)  A  revolution  at  the  center  and  climax  of  the  in- 
stitutional system,  the  Sabbath.  "The  sab- 
bath was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the 
sabbath."  2  :  23-3  :  6.  No  institution,  even  the 
best  and  most  sacred,  is  an  end  in  itself;  it 
must  serve. 

5.  The  opposing  spirit :  the  most  dominating  and  fatal 

of  all  perils  is  juggling  with  the  truth ;  it  disrupts 
one's  very  being.     3  :  22-30. 

1  Cf.  summary  of  propositions  from  Mark  in  Ecce  Homo,  Preface 
Supplementary,  pp.  v-vi. 


THE    ETHICAL    TEACHING   IN    MARK  IO9 

6.  The  mark  of  kinship  to  Christ :  doing  the  will  of  God. 

3:31-35- 

7.  The  nature  of  the  Kingdom  in  parables.     4 : 1-34. 

i)  Man's  own  choice  a  constant  element.  The  para- 
bles of  the  sower  and  of  the  lamp.  4:1-20, 
21-25.  By  attention,  heeding,  sharing;  so, 
and  only  so,  comes  growth.  Men  will  not 
drift  into  great  things.  4 :  23-24.  The  con- 
trary perils  are  set  forth  in  the  parable  of  the 
sower. 

2)  The  opposition  of  evil  is  to  be  expected,  and  we 

are  not  to  be  discouraged  thereby.  The  para- 
ble of  the  sower. 

3)  We  are  to  rely  on  the  one  great  positive  method 

of  the  growth  of  good.  The  parables  of  the 
fruit-bearing  earth,  and  of  the  mustard  seed. 
4 :  26-32. 

4)  In  the  growth  of  the  good,  and  in  its  final  triumph, 

we  may  have  faith.  Parables  of  the  fruit-bearing 
earth,  and  of  the  mustard  seed. 

5)  These  same  parables  bear  witness  to  the  greatness 

of  the  aim  of  the  Kingdom. 
II.    The  7nore  intimate  training  of  the  Twelve.    Chs.  7-10 : 

1.  "Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees."  7:  1-23; 

8:  11-21. 
i)    Falseness  and  insincerity;   unethical  religiosity. 
7:1-13.     Consequent  sign  seeking.     8:11-12. 
Corrupt  all ;  are  utterly  fatal.     Cf.  3  :  23-30. 
From  this  time  on,  no  possible  line   is    to   be 
drawn  between  the  right  and  the  religious  life. 
2)    The  insistence  upon  inner  righteousness.  7  :  14-23. 

2.  The  heart  of  Jesus'  message.     8  :  27-38. 

i)  The  self-sacrificing  master,  and  a  self-sacrificing 
disciple.     8 :  27-34. 

2)  The  sole  omnipotence  of  love  as  the  law  of  life 
and  the  way  to  glory;  Christ's  fundamental 
paradox.     8:35-9:1.     Cf.  9  :  30-50. 


no  THE   ETHICS   OF  JESUS 

(i)    Illustrated  in  his  own  case.     8 :  31 ;    9:  30- 
32;  10:32-34. 

(2)  Illustrated  in  warning  against  false  ambition. 

"If  any  man  would  be  first."    9:33-37. 
Cf.  10 :  35-45. 

(3)  No  selfish  exclusiveness  in  Christ's  service. 

"  Forbid  him  not."     9 :  38-41. 

(4)  Willingness  to  pay  the  price  for  the  highest 

achievement.     "  If  thy  hand  cause  thee  to 
stumble,  cut  it  off."    9 :  43-50. 
3.  Jesus'  applications  of  his  principle  to  social  questions. 
Ch.  10. 
i)   Marriage  and  divorce.     10:2-12.     The  unselfish 
(v.  5),  reverent  spirit  (vv.  11-12),  the  great  es- 
sential to  marriage.     No  true  marriage  without. 
Not  a  merely  private  concern  (v.  9). 

2)  The  significance  of  childhood.     10 :  13-16.    Cf. 

9:36-37- 
(i)   The  priceless  value  of  the  child ;  reverence 

for  him.     10 :  14.     Cf  9  :  37. 
(2)   The   essential   significance  of  the  childlike 

qualities.     10:14-15.     Cf.  9:35-37. 

3)  Wealth.     10:  17-31. 

(i)    The  peril  of  the  lesser  goods.     10 :  21-25. 
(2)    The  larger  goal.     10 :  28-31. 

4)  Ambition.     10 :  35-45.     "  Whosoever  would  be- 

come great  among  you,  shall  be  your  minister." 
III.  Jesus  presentiiighis  claims  to  spiritual  lordship ^  Messiah' 
ship,  at  the  center  of  power.     10  :  46  ff. 

1.  The  title  accepted.     10 :  46-52. 

2.  Asserted  in  symbolic  action;   the  triumphal  entry. 

II :  i-io. 

3.  Asserted  in  action  of  judgment.    1 1 :  1 1-25.  Parabolic 

action :  the  cursing  of  the  fig  tree  and  the  cleansing 
of  the  temple. 

4.  Asserted  in  denial  of  leaders'  right  to  judge  him  in  im- 

plied judgment  on  them.     1 1 :  27-33. 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN    MARK  III 

5.  Asserted  in  parable  of  historic  judgment.     Wicked 

husbandmen.     12:1-12. 

6.  Manifested  in  spiritual  discernment  and  far-sighted 

vision  as  against  ensnaring  questions.     12  :  13-44. 
i)   To  end  quibbles  that  keep  off  the  true  Kingdom  of 
God.     Appeal  for  God  and  good.     '' Render 
unto  Caesar,"  etc.     12  :  13-17. 

2)  To  end  mere  partisan  puzzles  that  gather  about 

the  future  life ;  to  dignify  and  clear  up  the  theme. 
12:  18-27. 

3)  To  bring  out  the  eternal  life  of  love,  the  simplicity 

and  glory  of  life,  above  all  varieties  and  ques- 
tions.    "  Thou  shalt  love."     12  :  28-34. 

7.  Asserted  in  criticism  of  current  conceptions.     12:35- 

44. 
i)   In  discernment  of  Messiahship  as  quite   above 
Davidic  kingship.     12  :  35-37. 

2)  In    warning    against    other    religious    teachers. 

12 :  38-40. 

3)  In  standard  of  benevolence.      The  widow's  mite. 

12 : 41-44. 

8.  Assertion  of  his  perpetual  lordship.     History  to  be 

read  in  his  light.     The  eschatological  discourse. 
Ch.  13. 

The  logical  development  and   grouping  of  the  Characteris- 
teaching  material  in  Mark  are  to  be  noted.     At-  ^^^°!g 
tention  may  also  be  directed  to  the  way  in  which  treatment, 
the  parables  in  the  4th  chapter  fit  the  situation 
created  by  the  increasing  opposition,  and  to  the 
compact  but  comprehensive  treatment  which  Mark 
gives  to  the  teaching  in  the  more  intimate  train- 
ing of  the  Twelve.^ 

1  Of  this  entire  teaching  in  Mark  we  are  to  deal  only  with  those 
passages  that  may  be  regarded  as  distinctly  ethical,  though  it  is  not 


112 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


The  ethical 
passages  in 
Mark  here 
discussed. 


Of  the  ethical  passages  in  Mark  there  may  be 
omitted  in  the  present  discussion  all  those  pas- 
sages which  have  been  covered  in  the  previous 
chapters,  as  well  as  all  parallels  to  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount,  which  is  to  receive  later,  special  con- 
sideration. The  passages  in  the  ethical  teaching 
of  Jesus,  as  given  in  Mark,  which  concern  us 
here,  may  be  thus  indicated  :  — 

1.  Mark  i  :  15,  17,  38.     Jesus'  message,  method,  motive,  and 

goal. 

2.  Mark  2  :  17,  19-22  (cf.  3  14),  2  :  25-28.     Jesus'  motive,  and 

the  revolutionary  nature  of  his  teaching. 

3.  Mark  4  :  3-9,  11-20,  26-29.     Parable  of  the  sower  and  ex- 

planation.    Parable  of  the  fruit-bearing  earth. 


Mark  7:6-15,  18-23.     The  tradition  of  the  elders. 


^ 


5.  Mark  8:  35-36.     The  great  paradox. 

6.  Mark  9:37, 39-41, 49?  50  b.  "  Whosoever  shall  receive  one 
of  such  little  children,"  etc.  "Forbid  him  not."  "Every 
one  salted  with  fire."    "  Have  salt  in  yourselves." 

Mark  10:2-9,  I4-I5>  23-25,  27,  29-31,  38-40.  As  to 
divorce  ;  as  to  children  ;  as  to  wealth  ;  as  to  ambition. 

Mark  12:  15-17,  29-31,  34,  38-40,  43-44.  "Render  unto 
Caesar."  The  great  commandment.  "  Beware  of  the 
scribes."    The  widow's  mite. 


Among   these  sayings    are    particularly   to   be 
noted   Jesus'  great   paradox,   "Whosoever  would 

easy  to  draw  a  sharp  line  between  those  in  which  some  ethical 
principle  is  clearly  involved,  and  those  which  are  exclusively  ethical. 
A  list  of  the  passages  which  this  discussion  regards  as  ethical  may 
be  added:  i :  15,  17,  38;  2:  17,  19-22,25-28;  3:4,  23-29,  33-35; 
4:3-9,  11-20,  21-25,  26-29,  30-32;  6:4,8-11;  7:6-15,18-23; 
8:  12,  15,  17-21,  34-38;  9:  35-37»  39-50;  10:  2-9,  11-12,  14-15, 
18-19,  21,  23-25,  27,  29-31,  38-40,  42-45;  12:  15-17,  29-31,  34, 
38-40,43-44;   13:33-37- 


THE   ETHICAL    TEACHING    IN    MARK  II 3 

save  his  life  shall  lose  it "  (8  :  35-37),  and  the  state-  Notable 

ment  of  the  summary  of  the  whole  law  in  love"^^^^^^^^ 

(12:29-31);  the  social   teachings  in  chapters  10  treatment.    ,„ 

and    12;  and  the  four  short   sayings   peculiar  to 

Mark :    the   priceless   word,    *'  The    sabbath   was 

made   for   man   and   not  man   for   the   sabbath " 

(2 :  27),    the   parable   of    the    fruit-bearing   earth 

(4 :  26-29),  **  For  every  one  shall  be  salted  with 

fire"  (9:49),  and  "Have  salt  in  yourselves,  and 

be  at  peace  one  with  another  "  (9 :  50  b). 

In  our  discussion  we  may  well  follow  Mark's  Mark's 
own  initial  notes,  so  getting  the  peculiar  flavor  of  ^^^^^^^  °°^^^* 
his  reflection  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus ;  and  see, 
thus,  in  Mark's  presentation:  (i)  Jesus'  message, 
method,  motive,  goal,  and  the  revolutionary  con- 
trast in  his  teaching ;  (2)  the  great  paradox,  the 
great  commandment,  and  the  demand  for  the  child- 
like qualities;  and  (3)  the  social  applications  of 
his  teachings. 

The  passages  peculiar  to  Mark  find  their  natural  The  passages 
place  in  even  so  brief  a  summary ;  for  it  should  ^^^f'^^  *° 
not  be  forgotten  that  those  which  are  commonly 
spoken  of  as  peculiar  to  him  are  so  very  few, 
simply  because  both  the  other  Synoptic  Gospels 
appropriated  so  completely  the  teaching  as  Mark 
had  set  it  forth.  It  would  be  quite  unfair,  there- 
fore, to  Mark,  to  judge  his  conception  of  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  chiefly  by  these  few  peculiar  passages. 

It   may  be  noted,    also,  that  the  same   ethical 
notes  which  disclosed  themselves  even  in  Schmie- 
del's  few  passages,  and   still  more   fully   in   the 
I 


114 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


here  re- 
peated. 


The  ethical  doubly  attested  sayings,  and  in  Q,  are  of  course 
Schmiedei's  ^^^^  more  here  in  evidence,  and  are  further  de- 
veloped :  the  sense  of  the  seriousness  of  life 
evinced  in  the  sayings  in  chapters  8  and  9 
(8*35-37;  9-49>  50  b),  and  in  the  social  applica- 
tions in  chapters  10  and  12;  the  demand  for  ab- 
solute genuineness  and  integrity  of  life  in  chapter 
7  (7 :  14-23) ;  the  necessary  inwardness  of  all  true 
moral  and  spiritual  life,  also  in  chapter  7(7 :  I4-I5> 
18-19,  21-23);  the  principle  of  reverence  for  the 
person  in  the  teaching  concerning  children  and  di- 
vorce ;  the  absolutely  ethical  conception  of  religion, 
in  chapters  i  and  2  (1:38;  2:17);  the  sense  of 
contrast  with  the  religious  life  of  his  times  in  chap- 
ters 2,  3,  7,  8  ;  his  deep  and  characteristic  compas- 
sion, and  the  requirement  of  a  like  spirit  in  others, 
in  chapters  9  and  10. 

Turning  now  to  the  characteristic  notes  of  Mark's 
presentation,  we  may  take  them  up  essentially  in 
^  his  own  order. 
Jesus*     \/       I.   Jesus'  message  —  "The  time  is  fulfilled,  and 
message.        ^^  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand :  repent  ye,  and  be- 
lieve in  the  gospel  "  (Mark  i :  15),  —  on  the  strictly 
ethical  side,  may  be  regarded  as  expressing  his 
faith  in  that  moral  trend  of  the  universe  which  logi- 
cally underlies  all  moral  struggle  for  character, 
and  all  social  endeavor  for  the  progress  of  the  race. 
Men  are  to  believe  in  this  good  news,  and  realize 
that  individual  and  racial  progress  depend  upon 
spiritual  conditions,  —  upon  the  getting  of  a  new 
mind,  and  upon  this  initial  faith  in  the  possibility 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN    MARK  11$ 

of  moral  living,  and  in  the  further  certainty,  to  use 
Nash's  language,  that  "  the  universe  is  on  the  side 
of  the  will "  in  its  fight  for  righteousness. 

Jesus'  method  of  leavening  the  race  by  the  men  jesus' 
of  the  right  spirit  is  set  forth  in  his  call  to  his  first  "^^thod. 
disciples,  — "  Come  ye  after  me  and  I  will  make 
you  to  become  fishers  of  men."     It  is  Hke  the  later 
saying,  "The  good  seed,  these  are  the  sons  of  the 
kingdom."     The  law  is  the  law  of  the  contagion 
of  life,  and  those  associated  with  him  are,  in  turn, 
by  the  touch  of  a  life  like  his,  to  win  others  also. 
And  the  inducement  is  of  the  highest :  they  are  to 
count  among  men  and  for  the  highest  interests  of 
men.     The  condition  here  suggested  by  Jesus  is 
coming  after  him  ;  and,  quite  aside  from  any  reli- 
gious interpretation  of   his   life,  and  purely  with  , 
reference  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  ethical  ends  / 
of  the  race,  it  may  still  be  said  that  no  one  so  min-  ) 
isters  to  men  as  the  man  who  can  make  the  spirit 
of  Jesus  a  reality  to  men  in  his  own  life  and  speech. 
There  is  no  way  so  sure  for  awakening  men  to  new 
spiritual  insights  and  new  ethical  aspirations,  to 
great  hopes  and  ideals,  as  to  bring  them  into  close 
touch  with  the  mind  of  Jesus. 

The  next  saying  in  Mark  (2:17;  cf.  1:38) —  The  motive 
"  They  that  are  whole  have  no  need  of  a  physician,  ^f  je^u7°^^ 
but  they  that  are  sick  :  I  came  not  to  call  the  right- 
eous, but  sinners "  —  indicates  both  the  motive 
and  the  purpose  that  Jesus  puts  back  of  his  own 
life,  and  implies  should  underlie  every  true  life. 
The  motive  is  love,  and  the  purpose,  to  give  one's  *^ 


Ii6 


THE    ETHICS    OF  JESUS 


The  revo- 
lutionary 
character 
of  the 
teaching  of 
Jesus. 


The  spirit 
of  rejoicing 
sonship. 


life  where  it  is  most  needed  and  will  count  for  most. 
Mark  makes  the  saying  an  answer  to  the  complaint, 
"  How  is  it  that  he  eateth  and  drinketh  with  pub- 
licans and  sinners  ?  "  Jesus'  answer,  therefore,  is, 
in  substance,  As  surely  as  a  good  physician  will 
seek  to  bring  his  skill  to  those  who  need  it  most, 
so  surely  must  the  man  who  seeks  the  moral  health 
of  men  wish  to  invest  his  life  where  the  need  is 
greatest.  As  the  method  is  the  contagion  of  life, 
so  surely  must  the  motive  be  love,  and  the  goal  the 
loving  life  for  the  individual  and  for  the  race,  the 
civilization  of  brotherly  men. 

Mark  next  brings  out,  in  his  presentation  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus,  the  revolutionary  character  of  his 
teaching,  and  of  his  relation  to  the  previous  age,  in 
Jesus'  discussion  of  fasting  and  of  the  Sabbath 
(2  :  18-28  ;  3  : 1-4),  in  his  parables  of  the  undressed 
cloth  and  of  the  old  wine-skins,  and  in  the  saying, 
"The  sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for 
the  sabbath."  The  same  clear  sense  of  contrast 
with  the  prevalent  religious  spirit  of  his  time  is 
recognized,  thus,  in  the  beginning  of  this  earliest 
gospel,  as  in  Schmiedel's  "foundation-pillars,"  in 
the  doubly  attested  sayings,  and  in  Q. 

The  saying,  "  Can  the  sons  of  the  bride  chamber 
fast  while  the  bridegroom  is  with  them  .? "  (2  :  19),  is 
characteristic  of  the  constant  inwardness  of  Jesus* 
thought,  that  it  is,  of  course,  to  be  assumed  that 
fasting  must  correspond  to  the  inner  spirit,  and 
it  "  cannot "  therefore  be  for  those  who  have  the 
spirit  of  rejoicing  sonship.     Jesus  will  have  nothing 


THE   ETHICAL    TEACHING   IN    MARK  11/ 

merely  put  on,  no  motions  simply  gone  through. 
There  is  here,  again,  clear  repudiation  of  asceticism, 
as  such.  This  one  point  may  be  said  to  be  typical, 
thus,  of  the  whole  relation  of  the  epoch  that  Jesus 
would  introduce  to  the  older  epoch.  It  is  as  though 
he  would  say :  You  cannot  put  this  new  spirit  of 
rejoicing  sonship,  the  new  ethical  spirit  that  recog- 
nizes a  life  from  within,  into  the  old  forms ;  they 
are  not  the  natural  expression  of  it.  The  new 
spirit  necessarily  breaks  through  these,  if  it  is  to 
be  really  honest  and  true  to  itself.  / 

And  one  may  well  believe  that  the  parables  of  The  new 
the  undressed  cloth  and  of  the  old  wine-skins  are  ^^^^^^^ds 
arguments  that  Jesus  had  first  of  all  used  with  him-  new  forms, 
self,  in  determining  the  relation  in  which  he  was  to 
stand  to  the  old  teaching.  He  must  have  repeat- 
edly asked  himself.  Can  I  keep  and  use  the  old 
forms  ?  Will  they  suffice  for  the  new  spirit  ? 
Jesus  must  have  had  a  conviction,  growing  through 
the  years,  that  he  could  not  simply  patch  up  the 
^Id  religious  conceptions  and  method  of  thought, 
that  he  was  not  simply  to  add  a  "  lean-to  "  to  Juda- 
ism ;  the  unshrunk  cloth  would,  in  the  end,  make 
a  worse  tear  in  the  old  religion.  And  so  in  the 
parable  of  the  new  wine  and  the  old  wine-skins, 
Jesus  is  virtually  saying  to  himself,  There  is  such 
fermenting  power  in  these  new  principles  that  they 
would  inevitably  break  through  these  old  forms, 
and  the  spirit  itself,  having  no  appropriate  embodi- 
ment, perish.  "  And  no  man  putteth  new  wine  into 
old  wine-skins ;  else  the  wine  will  burst  the  skins, 


ii8 


THE   ETHICS    OF  JESUS 


A  revolu- 
tionary 
principle. 


Jesus' 
thorough- 
going con- 
sistency. 


and  the  wine  perisheth,  and  the  skins :  but  they 
put  new  wine  into  fresh  wine-skins  "  (Mark  2  :  22). 
He  is  saying,  therefore,  I  have  no  recourse,  I  must 
seek  new  embodiment  for  the  new  spirit. 

In  other  words,  Jesus  believes  that  in  his  "  good 
news  of  God  "  (i  :  14)  as  essentially  Father,  he  has 
a  faith  and  a  principle  that  may  be  applied  to 
every  part  of  life,  and  that  will  prove  everywhere 
revolutionary ;  and  in  these  two  brief  parables  of 
the  unshrunk  cloth  and  of  the  old  wine-skins,  he 
is  justifying  the  fundamental  demand  always  to  be 
made  for  honest  readjustment  to  the  new  thought 
and  spirit,  for  carrying  through  with  logical  con- 
sistency the  great  new  conviction.  There  may  be 
an  unwise  conservatism  —  such  as  has  been  mani- 
fested again  and  again  in  the  history  of  the  church 
—  that,  striving  to  hold  to  the  old  forms,  really 
loses  the  true  spirit. 

Indeed,  it  is  perhaps  not  too  much  to  say  that 
the  greatest  contribution  of  even  the  thinking  of 
Jesus  is  not  so  much  the  mere  conception  of  God 
as  Father,  and  of  every  man  as  having  the  value 
and  privilege  of  a  child  of  God,  but  the  absolutely 
thorough  way,  the  complete  logical  consistency, 
with  which  he  carries  this  principle  out  into  every 
part  of  his  life  and  thinking  and  teaching.  The 
originality  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  that  is,  does 
not  consist  primarily  in  mere  discernment  of  this  or 
that  or  the  other  truth  as  one  among  ten  thousand, 
but  in  his  unerring  judgment  as  to  the  proportions 
of  truth,  and  his  dominating  sense  of  the  supreme 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN    MARK  IIQ 

place  to  be  given  to  certain  truths  as  compared 
with  others.  It  is  this,  as  we  shall  see,  that  brings 
such  unity  and  simplicity  into  his  thinking,  and 
this  that  makes  his  teaching  and  living  a  harmoni- 
ous whole. 

Jesus*  sense  of  the  revolutionary  nature  of  his  AU  institu- 
teaching  is  still  more  clearly  seen  in  the  attitude  o°J!f^eans 
which  he  takes  toward  the  Sabbath,  where  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  he  seeks  a  revolution  at  the 
climax  and  center  of  the  institutional  system  of  ^"^ 
Judaism  (2  :  23-3  : 6).  In  answer  to  the  complaint 
of  the  Pharisees  against  the  conduct  of  his  dis- 
ciples in  plucking  the  ears  of  wheat  as  they  went 
through  the  grain  fields  on  the  Sabbath  day,  Jesus 
first,  in  an  argumentum  ad  hominem,  appeals  to 
their  own  Scriptures  and  to  the  conduct  of  their 
own  best-loved  king,  as  a  recognition  that  mere 
ceremonial  requirements,  even  of  a  pretty  serious 
kind,  are  not  to  set  aside  the  common  needs  of 
men ;  and  then  he  adds  the  fundamental  principle, 
in  one  of  the  four  sayings  peculiar  to  Mark,  — 
"  The  sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for 
the  sabbath"  (2:27;  cf.  3:4).  That  is,  institu-'' 
tions,  even  the  highest  and  most  sacred  of  all,  are 
intended  for  means,  and  are  never  to  be  exalted 
into  ends  in  themselves.  Bruce  may  well  say, 
"  For  this  saying  alone,  and  the  parable  of  gradual 
growth,  his  Gospel  was  worth  preserving."  For 
the  principle  so  enunciated  is  plainly  fundamental 
and  far-reaching ;  it  means  nothing  less  than  that  r 
persons   alone  are   truly   valuable  and  sacred   in 


120  THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

themselves,  that  the  sacredness  of  all  places,  and 
of  all  institutions,  even  of  the  church  and  of  the 
sacraments  and  of  the  Sabbath,  is  wholly  bor- 
rowed.^ 

Mark  clearly  and  truly  sees  —  what  Jesus  must 
have  plainly  realized  —  that  this  attitude  on  the 
part  of  Jesus  meant  an  inevitable  and  fatal  crisis 
with  the  Pharisees :  "  And  the  Pharisees,"  Mark 
says,  "  went  out,  and  straightway  with  the  Hero- 
dians  took  counsel  against  him,  how  they  might 
destroy  him  "  (Mark  3  :  6)?  In  this  position,  that 
is,  concerning  the  Sabbath,  it  seemed  to  the  Phari- 
sees, not  unreasonably,  that  Jesus  was  challenging 
the  whole  Judaistic  system,  considered  as  an  end 
in  itself,  in  its  highest  and  most  important  institu- 
tion. It  is  probably  on  account  of  this  growing 
intensity  of  opposition,  that  there  comes  at  this 
point  in  Jesus'  ministry  a  real  change  in  the  form 
of  his  teaching  to  the  use  of  parables.^  Jesus  could 
not  have  failed  to  understand  what  such  a  chal- 
lenge of  the  conventional  teaching  as  to  the 
Sabbath  meant,  and  his  challenge  thus  evinces 
unmistakably  his  sense  of  the  impossibility  of  com- 
promise, of  the  truly  revolutionary  contrast  there 

1  Cf.  Lotze,  Practical  Philosophy,  p.  125  :  "  Every  institution  — 
no  matter  how  magnificent  a  mystical  significance  it  might  have  — 
would  still  be  of  indifferent  value  if  it  were  of  no  use  in  life." 

2  Cf.  Bennett,  The  Life  of  Jesus  According  to  St.  Mark,  pp.  38, 
47  ff.,  54  ff.;  E.  A.  Abbott,  Philochristus,  pp.  168  ff.;  Burkitt,  The 
Gospel  History  and  Its  Transmission,  pp.  81  ff. 

3  Cf.  Matt.  13:10;  Mark  4:9-11,  22-24,  33-34.  See  above, 
p.  58. 


THE   ETHICAL    TEACHING   IN    MARK  121 

was  between  the  inner  spirit  of  loving  service  of 
men  which  he  sought,  and  any  possible  idea  of  a 
ruling  of  men  by  external  institutions  and  com- 
mands thought  to  be  in  themselves  sacred. 

It  is  perhaps  the  greatest  glory  of  our  own  gen-  -jartie  service 
eration  that  it  is  applying  more  rigorously  to  all  °^  ^^^' 
institutions  of  every  kind,  social,  economic,  politi- 
cal, educational,  religious,  this  supreme  test  of  the 
service  of  men.     It  will  not  do  longer  to  evoke  age, 
or  precedent,  or  convention,  or  respectability,  or 
the  difficulties  of  change ;   every  institution  alike 
must    justify    itself    on    the    ground   of    service 
rendered.     In  so  far  as  this  is  characteristic  of  our  v^ 
time,  we  are  simply  applying  this  principle  of  the 
ethical  teaching  of  Jesus,  that  no  institution,  even 
the  best  and  most  sacred,  is  an  end  in  itself;  it 
must  serve. 

This  sense  of  the  contrast  between  his  teaching  Discussion 
and  that  at  least   all   too   prevalent   in   his  time,  °^  ^^^. 
comes  out  perhaps  even  more  pointedly  in  the  dis-  of  the 
cussion  of  the  tradition  of  the  elders,  in  the  7th  ^^^^^^* 
chapter  (7 :  1-23).     A  determined  effort  has  been 
made  to  break  down  the  historicity  of  this  passage, 
an  effort  which  I  judge  must  be  regarded  as,  in  the 
main,  unsuccessful.     So  far  as  it  is  justifiable,  it 
suggests  at  the  most  only  that  we  do  not  make 
Christ's   language  at   all  points  apply  indiscrimi- 
nately to  all  Pharisees.^     It  is  too  largely  left  out 

1  Cf.  Burkitt,  T^e  Gospel  History  and  Its  Transmission y  pp. 
169-174,  especially  173-174;  Moffatt,  "Survey  of  Recent  Litera- 
ture on  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,"  Review  of  Theology  and 
Philosophy^  September,  1908. 


122 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


Religious 
observance 
versus  hu- 
man duty. 


of  account  in  some  present-day  discussions  of  Phar- 
isaism from  the  Jewish  side,  that  it  is  not  at  all 
intentional  hypocrisy  that  Jesus  mainly  has  in 
mind,  but  that  traditionalism  and  externalism,  that 
putting  of  the  "hedge  of  the  law  "  above  the  main 
principles  of  the  moral  life,  to  which  the  history 
of  Pharisaism  shows  indisputably  that  it  so  easily 
lent  itself,  and  which  is  certain  to  end  in  virtual 
hypocrisy.  And  in  this  passage,  the  two  great 
significant  things  are  his  protest  against  the  place 
given  to  tradition  as  over  against  the  plain  demands 
of  common  obligation,  —  "  Ye  leave  the  command- 
ment of  God,  and  hold  fast  the  tradition  of  men  " 
{7'-^),  and  his  virtual  attack  on  the  whole  principle 
of  ceremonial  defilement  (vv.  14-23).  For  Mark's 
comment  at  the  close  of  verse  19  —  "This  he  said, 
making  all  meats  clean  '*  —  must  be  regarded  as 
the  practically  inevitable  inference  from  the  whole 
teaching  of  the  passage :  "  Hear  me  all  of  you, 
and  understand :  there  is  nothing  from  without 
the  man,  that  going  into  him  can  defile  him ;  but 
the  things  which  proceed  out  of  the  man  are  those 
that  defile  the  man  "  (vv.  14-15). 

In  both  parts  of  the  passage,  that  is,  the  insist- 
ence upon  the  inwardness  of  the  moral  and  spirit- 
ual' life  once  more  comes  out  as  contrasted  with 
every  possible  external  and  traditional  requirement. 
It  is,  of  course,  clearly  to  be  recognized  in  the  his- 
tory of  Pharisaism,  that  both  the  traditions  of 
the  elders  and  the  ceremonial  requirements  were 
originally  intended  to  guard  the  life  of  the  Phari- 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN   MARK  123 

see  the  more  perfectly.  But  just  because  they 
were  thus  honestly  taken  on  from  the  religious 
motive,  they  were  a  constant  danger.  With  Jesus' 
clear  insight  that  there  is  no  true  life  at  all  ex- 
cept it  be  from  within,  he  can  only  attack  with 
vehemence  these  traditions  and  ceremonial  laws, 
that  seemed  to  him  all  the  worse  and  the  more 
beguiling  and  imperiling  because  they  are  in- 
troduced under  the  guise  of  religion.^  They  are 
in  great  danger  of  becoming  pious  reasons  for 
unvarnished  sin,  for  setting  aside  the  clearest 
human  duties  on  the  plea  of  religion  (vv.  10-13), 
for  setting  aside  the  will  of  God  on  the  plea  of 
serving  God,  for  setting  aside  unmistakable  obli- 
gations arising  out  of  the  plainest  providential  re- 
lations of  life,  to  undertake  special  rehgious  duties. 
Whether  or  not  the  specific  illustration  of  this 
charge  in  verses  10  to  13  is  to  be  finally  historically 
justified,  the  danger  which  Jesus  here  points  out 
was  an  undoubted  one,  not  only  for  his  generation, 
but  for  every  generation.  Jesus  wishes  to  make  it 
clear  that  he  will  have  nothing  of  this  conflict  of 
human  obligation  and  of  divine  will.  And  it  is  to 
be  feared  that  to-day  Jesus  would  find  much  con- 
venient and  conventional  Christianity  in  clear  con- 
flict with  his  teaching ;  that  in  many  present-day 
apologies  for  war,  for  enormous  navies,  and  for 
various  industrial  and  business  methods,  he  could 
see  only  a  plain  setting  aside  of  the  clearest  moral 

1  No  one  has  brought    out   this  danger   of  externalism   more 
strongly  than  Herrmann  in  many  passages  in  his  Faith  and  Morals, 


124 


THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


The  danger 

of  the  tradi- 
tional and 
ceremonial. 


principles.  It  is  a  part  of  the  insistent  ethical 
spirit  of  Jesus  that  he  will  have  nothing  of  elevat- 
ing supposed  pious  observances  above  simple  hu- 
man duties. 

It  is  not,  then,  external  ceremonial  defilement, 
not  disobedience  to  religious  traditions,  but  inner 
impurity,  which  is  to  be  avoided  (vv.  18-23).  Here 
once  more  the  true  contribution  of  Jesus  will  not 
be  measured  aright,  unless  one  sees  the  unerring 
logical  consistency  with  which  he  carries  through 
his  principle  of  the  inwardness  of  the  moral  life. 
The  Pharisees  thought,  and  many  others  think  to- 
day, that  various  traditions  and  rules  are  of  impor- 
tance, and  they  virtually  ask  the  question  of  the 
Pharisees  and  scribes,  "  Why  walk  not  thy  disci- 
)  pies  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  elders,  but 
they  pray  with  defiled  hands?"  And  they  wonder 
that  men  of  inner  spiritual  insight  should  take 
offence  that  the  importance  of  these  outward 
observances  should  be  pressed.  But  to  Jesus' 
mind  it  is  plainly  not  an  insignificant  matter,  when 
petty  things  are  elevated  to  a  place  of  steady  im- 
portance beside  the  greatest  duties.  What  really 
so  results  is  not  that  you  have  succeeded  in  giving 
profound  ethical  significance  to  ecclesiasticisms 
and  ceremonialisms,  but  that  you  have  brought 
down  the  supreme  glory  of  the  ethical  and  funda- 
mental religious  demands  to  the  level  of  indifferent 
external  observances.  There  is  here,  therefore, 
for  Jesus  the  revolutionary  laying  aside  of  ceremo- 
nial as  essential  to  religion,  the  repudiation  of  what 


THE    ETHICAL    TEACHING    IN    MARK  125 

has  been  well  called  the  heresy  of  heresies,  —  the 
separation  of  the  sacred  and  the  secular.  So  Jesus 
says,  "  For  from  within,  out  of  the  heart  of  men, 
evil  thoughts  proceed  "  (v.  2 1 ).  The  real  defilement 
is  from  within ;  here  is  the  great  fight.  We  can 
ill  spare  time  and  strength  on  indifferent  issues. 

It  is  this  same  sense  of  contrast  with  the  Phari-  The  sign- 
saic  spirit  that  once  more  expresses  itself  in  Mark  spirit^ 
in  the  passage  concerning  the  "  seeking  a  sign 
from  heaven,"  and  the  warning  to  "  beware  of  the 
leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and  the  leaven  of  Herod  " 
(8:  11-13,  15).  Jesus  "sighed  deeply  in  his  spirit," 
Mark  says,  that  the  Pharisees  should  seek  a  sign 
from  heaven,  while  they  had  no  discernment  of  the 
significance  of  his  love  for  men  and  his  loving  work 
among  men,  because  they  were  blind  to  the  moral 
evidence.  The  spirit  that  tends  to  emphasize  the 
external  and  traditional,  can  hardly  fail  in  the  end 
to  give  to  it,  first,  undue  importance,  and  then  to 
make  it  seem  to  be  the  essence  of  the  religious 
and  righteous  life,  and  so  to  lead  to  a  self- 
deceiving,  unethical,  and  sign-seeking  spirit.  If 
this  spirit  begins  to  prevail  in  the  little  group  of 
chosen  men  who  are  to  be  the  seed  for  the  new 
kingdom,  the  salt  to  keep  the  earth  sound,  the 
leaven  to  leaven  its  lump,  all  is  lost.  Jesus 
believes  that  the  inevitable  trend  of  this  spirit,  just 
because  it  tends  to  set  aside  the  man's  own  instinc- 
tive moral  judgments,  is  toward  a  kind  of  double- 
ness  of  the  inner  life,  toward  falseness  and  in- 
sincerity. 


126 


THE   ETHICS    OF  JESUS 


Renewed 
emphasis 
on  the  in- 
wardness 
of  life. 


The  great 
paradox 
and  the 
great  com- 
mandment. 


What  Jesus  means  by  "  the  leaven  of  Herod," 
in  verse  15,  is  not  made  clear  in  this  passage,  but 
it  probably  is  the  simply  worldly  policy,  the  spirit 
of  which  is  brought  out  in  other  passages  in  the 
teaching  of  Jesus. 

In  line  with  this  persistent  emphasis  of  Jesus  on 
the  inwardness  of  the  true  life,  are  two  other  pas- 
sages in  the  12th  chapter  of  Mark  (vv.  40,  43-44) : 
"  They  that  devour  widow's  houses,  and  for  a  pre- 
tense make  long  prayers,"  and  the  comment  on  the 
two  mites  of  the  poor  widow.  The  first  passage 
is  Jesus'  indignant  protest  against  a  spirit,  which 
it  is  to  be  feared  is  still  not  unknown.  Beware, 
he  says  in  substance,  of  religious  leaders  who  affect 
the  outward  titles  and  trappings  of  their  office,  and 
offset  their  lack  of  humanity  by  a  show  of  piety. 
And  Gould  expresses  certainly  the  inner  essence 
of  Jesus'  comment  on  the  widow's  two  mites,  when 
he  speaks  of  it  as  setting  forth  "  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  outward  meagerness  and  inner  richness 
of  the  widow's  service,  and  the  outward  ostentation 
and  inward  barrenness  of  the  Pharisee's  religion." 
**  It  is  only  as  the  gift  measures  the  moral  value 
of  the  giver  that  it  counts  with  him  who  looks  at 
the  heart."  ^ 

2.  From  this  survey  of  Jesus'  message,  method, 
motive,  goal,  and  the  revolutionary  contrast  of  his 
teaching  with  that  of  his  times,  we  may  fitly  turn 
to  his  statement  of  the  great  paradox  of  life,  and 


1  The  International  Critical  Commentary^  St,  Mark^  pp.  238, 


239. 


THE    ETHICAL    TEACHING    IN    MARK  12/ 

of  the  great  commandment,  and  to  two  closely  re- 
lated sayings,  peculiar  to  Mark,  —  "  For  every  one 
shall  be  salted  with  fire  "  (9 :  49),  and  "  Have  salt 
in  yourselves,  and  be  at  peace  one  with  another  " 
(9:  50  b). 

In  the  statement  of  the  fundamental  paradox  of  The  great 
life —  "  For  whosoever  would  save  his  Hfe  shall  lose  p^'^^^o^- 
it;  and  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for  my  sake 
and  the  gospel's  shall  save  it.  For  what  doth  it 
profit  a  man,  to  gain  the  whole  world,  and  forfeit 
his  life?"  (8:  35-36)  —  some  believe  that  Jesus  is 
quoting  a  proverb.^  The  parallels  suggested  make 
this  seem  to  me  rather  doubtful ;  but  even  if  so,  it 
is  plain  that  its  meaning  for  Jesus  is  greatly  deep- 
ened. It  is  no  mere  "military  proverb,"  but  a 
statement  of  a  fundamental  law  of  life  for  Jesus 
himself,  and  for  his  disciples,  a  call  to  steady  self- 
giving  as  the  basic  law  of  life.  Against  the  whole 
selfish  spirit  of  men  and  of  his  time,  he  affirms  this 
universal  law  of  self-giving  love  as  the  one  law  of 
life.  In  view  of  such  a  challenge,  it  is  hardly 
strange  that  a  great  Chinese  statesman  should  have 
found  his  strongest  impression  of  Christ  the  impres- 
sion of  his  courage.^  Jesus  moves  forward,  in  calm  of 
spirit,  to  the  issue  of  certain  external  defeat  and  death, 
in  faith  in  the  sole  omnipotence  of  self-sacrificing  love 
as  the  law  of  life  and  the  way  to  glory.  He  believes, 
and  he  acts  upon  the  belief,  that  life  is  achieved  in  the 
proportion  in  which  a  man  gives  himself  in  service, 

1  Cf.  D.  Smith,  art.  «  Proverbs,"  D.  C.G. 
^  Bibbert  Journal,  October,  1908,  p.  22. 


128  THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

in  the  proportion  in  which  he  has  come  into  a  gen- 
uine love;  just  as  Browning  has  made  the  aged 
John  say :  — 

"For  life,  with  all  it  yields  of  joy  and  woe, 
And  hope  and  fear  .  .  . 
Is  just  our  chance  o'  the  prize  of  learning  love." 

•^  Jesus  has  discovered  for  himself,  and  holds  un- 
flinchingly for  others,  that  a  genuinely  unselfish  love 
is  the  most  rewarding  of  all  things,  that  the  para- 
doxical secret  of  hfe,  therefore,  is  to  find  one's 
life  by  losing  it,  —  fulfillment  of  life  by  the  surren- 
der of  the  selfish  self,  just  because  in  every  per- 
sonal relation  there  is  no  enlarging  life  without 
such  continuous  self-giving.  What  is  the  world 
worth  without  such  worthful  personal  relations, 
that  is,  without  such  self -giving  love  ?  "  What  doth 
it  profit  a  man,  to  gain  the  whole  world,  and  forfeit 
his  life?"  (v.  36).  This  paradox  of  Jesus  is  the 
one  saying  which  occurs  in  each  of  the  four  gospels, 
and  is  twice  repeated  in  two  of  them.  It  would 
seem  plainly  to  belong  among  the  most  surely  at- 
tested sayings,  and  to  express  what  must  have  been 
a  fundamental  and  constantly  recurring  teaching 
of  Jesus. 
Sharing  the  From  Jcsus'  religious  point  of  view,  it  is  exactly 
such  self -giving  love  that  he  believes  is  the  very 
life  of  God  himself  as  Father.  And  it  is  for  him, 
therefore,  self-evident  that  to  lose  this,  whatever  one 
gains  in  things,  is  to  fail  to  share  in  the  life  of  God 
himself,  and  so  to  lose  all  that  is  best  worth  while 
in  life. 


THE   ETHICAL    TEACHING    IN    MARK  1 29 

The  38th  verse,  with  its  eschatological  reference  The  dwin- 
—  "  For  whosoever  shall  be  ashamed  of  me  and  of  "^  ®* 
my  words  in  this  adulterous  and  sinful  generation, 
the  Son  of  man  shall  be  ashamed  of  him,  when  he 
Cometh  in  the  glory  of  his  Father  with  the  holy 
angels  "  —  like  the  parallel  passage  already  con- 
sidered in  Q  (Matt.  lo :  32-33)»  is,  after  all,  only  a 
religious  putting  of  an  ethical  conviction.  It  is  as 
though  Jesus  had  said,  Whosoever  shall  be  ashamed 
of  my  spirit  and  the  fundamental  principle  of  my 
life,  will  have  and  be  nothing  in  which  I  can  glory 
at  the  end.  This  seems  to  Jesus  to  be  a  mere 
matter  of  inevitable  cause  and  effect ;  there  is 
nothing  arbitrary;  there  could  be  no  other  pos- 
sible issue.  It  is  no  threat  which  he  here  voices, 
but  a  solemn,  sobering,  inevitable  law.  The 
man  who  refuses  the  law  of  this  paradox  of  life 
has  taken  the  way  of  the  steadily  dwindling  Hfe, 
and  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  said.  There  is 
never  any  blind  sentimentalism  in  the  teaching  of 
Jesus. 

It  is  worth  noting  that  it  is  this  very  principle  The  modem 
of  self-sacrifice,  as  set  over  against  the  counsels  of  YelnJ"^ 
self-regarding   prudence,  which  on  the  one  hand  principle 
has  made  the  Christian  teaching  seem  so  impracti-  sacrifice, 
cable,  and  yet  on  the  other   hand,  as  civilization 
advances,  is  seen  to  be  absolutely  indispensable, 
not  only  to  the  progress  of  that  civilization  as  a 
whole,  but  to  the  larger  life  of  the  individual  him- 
self.    Much  has  been  made,  even  on  the  part  of 
those  counting  themselves  disciples  of  Jesus,  of  the 


I30  THE   ETHICS    OF  JESUS 

impracticableness  of  his  teaching ;  and  yet  one  can 
hardly  help  saying  with  Schmidt,  that  before  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  "  is  pronounced  impracticable,  an 
application  of  its  fundamental  principles  should  be 
tried  on  a  larger  scale  than  has  hitherto  been  the 
case."^  What  gives  the  pungency  and  sting  to 
many  of  Tolstoy's  words,  is  his  quite  justified  con- 
viction that  there  has  not  been  a  thoroughgoing 
attempt  practically  to  apply  the  principles  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus,  and  the  vision  that  he  has  caught 
(even  though  his  interpretation  be  often  so  literal- 
istic  as  to  deny  the  spirit  of  Jesus*  teaching)  of  the 
glorious  possibilities  for  the  race  of  a  determined 
attempt  to  carry  through  to  the  utmost  the  princi- 
ples of  Jesus'  teaching.  And  we  are  coming  daily 
more  clearly  to  see,  that  a  civilization  necessarily 
so  unified  and  interdependent  as  ours,  even  compels 
a  cooperation  that  must  be  vastly  extended  and  more 
and  more  complex ;  and  that  that  cooperation  can- 
not reach  its  full  possibilities  without  the  intelligent 
and  gladly  voluntary  participation  on  the  part  of 
each  individual.  Nor  can  the  individual  himself, 
therefore,  share  in  the  largest  social  life  without 
this  same  self-surrender  to  the  interests  of  the 
whole.  As  civilization  reaches  its  goal,  there- 
fore, we  may  be  sure  that  the  distinctive  Chris- 
tian virtues,  instead  of  seeming  impracticable 
either  for  the  individual  or  for  society,  must 
seem  to  be  rather  the  fundamental  and  essential 

1  The  Prophet  of  Nazareth^  p.  309.  Similarly,  Lessing  and  Tol- 
stoy. 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN   MARK  I3I 

virtues,  without  which  the  highest  civilization  is 
impossible.^ 

With  this  paradox  of  the  self-sacrificing  life,  may  Other  calls 
be  coupled  the  short  saying  already  quoted,  "  For  ^°^  ^^. , 
every  one  shall  be  salted  with  fire,"   as  probably  spirit, 
pointing  to  the  same   sacrificial  spirit.     And  the 
other  brief  saying,  "  Have  salt  in  yourselves,  and 
be  at  peace  one  with  another,"  in  Mark's  connection, 
seems  to  be  an  exhortation  to  that  absolute  integ- 
rity and   soundness  of   life  to  which   a   previous 
phrase  —  "  If  the  salt  have  lost  its  saltness,  where- 
with will  ye  season  it  ? "  —  points.    And  as  the  one 
genuine  life  seems  to  Jesus  to  be  that  of  a  life  of 
love,   it  is  not  unnatural  that  to  the  exhortation, 
"  Have  salt  in  yourselves,"  should  be  added,  "And 
be  at  peace  one  with  another." 

With  the  great  paradox  is  to  be  joined,  clearly.  The  great 
as  simply  its  logical  outcome,  or  perhaps  rather  command- 
presupposition,  the  statement  of  the ^reai  command- 
ment {Msivk  12:29-31):  "The  first  is.  Hear,  O 
Israel ;  The  Lord  our  God,  the  Lord  is  one :  and 
thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and 
with  all  thy  strength.  The  second  is  this,  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  There  is  none 
other  commandment  greater  than  these."     There 

^  Cf.  Miss  Scudder,  "  The  Social  Conscience  of  the  Future," 
Hibbert Journal,  January,  1909;  Fremantle,  The  World  as  the  Sub- 
ject of  Redemption,  pp.  i,  15,  28  ff.;  Maurice,  Social  Morality, 
pp.  392,  408;  Peabody,/«Mj  Christ  and  the  Christian  Character y 
pp.  196  ff. 


132  THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

is  here  expressed  Jesus*  clear  positive  statement  of 
love  as  the  all-inclusive  virtue,  the  very  essence 
and  sum  of  life,  whether  religious  or  ethical.  And 
the  principle  is  clearly  connected  in  the  closest 
and  most  indissoluble  way  with  Jesus'  religious 
conviction  of  God  as  Father.  Such  a  conception 
of  God  must  have  as  its  first  inference  just  such 
a  summing  up  of  the  whole  ethical  life.  For,  if 
the  highest  possible  conception  of  life  for  the  reli- 
gious man  would  be  the  sharing  of  the  life  of  God, 
and  if  the  very  life  of  God  is  the  unselfish  self-giv- 
ing life  of  the  Father,  then,  obviously,  one  can  come 
into  the  sharing  of  the  life  of  God  only  through 
taking  on  the  unselfish  life  of  love,  and  in  taking 
this  on,  he  thereby  takes  on  every  helpful  ministry 
that  the  insight  of  love  itself  can  suggest.  Out- 
side of  such  suggestion  lies  no  moral  law.  This 
very  thought  of  the  ideal  of  the  personal  life  as  one 
of  love,  it  is  to  be  noted,  makes  it  impossible  to 
draw  any  sharp  line  between  the  personal  and  so- 
cial ethics  of  Jesus.  In  his  thought,  it  is  impos- 
sible for  one  to  be  what  he  ought  in  his  own  life 
without  evincing  love  in  all  the  varied  relations  and 
spheres  of  life.^ 
Life  made  Oncc  morc,  Jcsus'  Contribution  here  is  not  the 

one  and         simple  assertion  of  this  truth  of  the  summing  up 

glorious.  ^  ,     . 

of  all  duty  in  love,  but  the  way  in  which  he  brmgs 
it  into  an  absolutely  unique  prominence,  and  sees 
that  it  appHes  everywhere  in  life  and  makes  life 
one  and  glorious,  and  the  way  in  which,  by  what  he 
1  Cf.  Haering,  The  Ethics  of  the  Christian  Life,  pp.  315-318. 


THE    ETHICAL    TEACHING   IN    MARK  1 33 

iSy  he  enables  us  to  believe  it.^  The  conception,  as 
has  been  said,  is  an  immediate  inference  from  his 
principle  of  the  fatherhood  of  God,  direct,  profound, 
and  profoundly  simple.  It  has  been  hard  for  men 
to  understand  how  profound  this  summary  of  the 
law  is.  It  has  taken  the  laboratory  practice  of 
generations,  as  we  have  just  seen,  for  us  to  dis- 
cover its  full  reach.  This  generation  seems  to  us 
to  be  the  first  to  come,  even  gradually,  into  its  full 
meaning.  The  principle  of  love  as  the  fulfilling  of  v^ 
the  law  brings  out  the  glory  and  the  simplicity  of 
life  at  the  same  time.  It  raises  life  above  all  vari- 
ations of  lesser  doctrines  even  about  Jesus  himself, 
above  all  party  shibboleths,  above  all  one-sided  em- 
phases of  any  one  age,  modern  or  ancient.  The 
persistent  life  of  love  —  that  itself  holds  the  key 
to  all  the  special  problems.^  ^ 

3.  And  it  is  really  this  single  principle  of  the  Social  ap- 
iQving  life  of  which  Jesus  is  making  various  social  ^  ^^^*^°"^' 
applications^^  as  we  have  already  seen  in  the  gen- 

^Cf.  Vtzbody,  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Questiony  p.  127. 

2  Cf.  Harnack,  What  is  Christianity?,^^.  8,  17,  1 21;  Peabody, 
op.  cit.,pp.  104  ff. :  Jesus'  emphasis  on  both  the  personal  and  the 
social,  pp.  102,  119,  125,  132-133,  256,  352. 

s.Cf.  Votaw,  art.  "Sermon  on  the  Mount,"  H.  D.  B.,  extra 
volume,  p.  30 :  "  Social  ethics  and  individual  ethics  cannot  rest  upon 
difierent  principtes."  This  is  doubtless  one  reason  why  Jesus  gives 
at  most  only  illustrative  applications  of  his  principles  to  social  ques- 
tions. This  reticence,  too,  is  more  in  harmony  with  his  method, 
which  is  that  of  gradual  growth  rather  than  of  revolution  (cf. 
Ramsay,  The  Education  of  Christ,  pp.  72-76),  and  with  his  prin- 
ciple of  reverence  for  the  person.  He  wishes  to  have  the  applica- 
tions grow  up  naturally,  and  to  bring  men  to  insights  of  their  own 


134  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

eral  outline  of  the  teaching  in  Mark,  in  chapters 
9,  lo,  and  12.  For  here  this  principle  of  a  self- 
giving  love  is  applied  to  ambition,  to  the  treatment 
of  children,  to  marriage,  to  wealth,  and  to  duties  to 
the  state. 
The  am-  And,  first,  as  to  ambition^  if  the  only  true  life 

surpasfrng      ^^  ^^^   ^^^^   ^^    loving    scrvicc,   then    plainly   the 
service.  ambition  that  seeks  to  take  selfish  advantage  of 

another  is  quite  misdirected (9 :  33-37 ;  10  :  35-45). 
As  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  already  considered, 
has  brought  out,  to  Jesus'  mind  it  is  absolutely 
clear  that,  "if  any  man  would  be  fjrst,  he  shall 
be  last  of  all,  and  servant  of  all"  (9:35).  If 
the  very  aim  of  life  is  to  learn  to  love,  then 
he  whose  fundamental  principle  is  selfishness, 
thereby  shuts  himself  out  from  life.  Truly,  if 
Jesus*  principle  of  love  as  life  is  true,  such  am- 
bitious self-seekers  "  know  not  what  they  ask " 
(10:38).  To  "sit  on  his  right  hand,"  to  share  in 
his  "  glory,"  means  only  to  drink  the  more  deeply 
of  the  cup  of  his  sacrificial  spirit,  and  to  be  baptized 
with  his  baptism  of  service.  The  ambition,  thus, 
that  Jesus  suggests,  is  the  ambition  for  surpassing 
service ;  the  only  priority  that,  upon  his  principle, 
can  seem  worth  while,  is  priority  in  such  unselfish 
service. 

rather  than  to  the  following  of  rules.  (Cf.  Gardner,  Exploratio 
Evangelica,  p.  202;  Ross,  The  Teaching  of  Jesus,  pp.  loi,  104, 
119  ff.;  Yi?LXX\%,  Moral  Evolution,  pp.  220  ff.;  Harnack,  What  is 
Christianity?,  pp.  99-100;  Brooks,  The  Influence  of  Jesus,  pp. 
73-138,  especially  84,  88,  98,  105.) 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN   MARK  1 35 

It  means  much  that  this  generation  is  bringing  New  pro- 
men  in  all  professions  increasingly  to  this  stand-  s^ndards. 
ard,  and  more  and  more  making  it  certain  that  no 
one  of  any  profession  may  keep  self-respect,  not 
only  if  he  does  not  render  service  commensurate 
to  the  reward  given,  but  also  if  he  fails  to  give  the 
service  demanded  by  the  social  trust  involved  in 
his  profession,  even  when  there  is  no  external 
reward,  and  when  life  itself  may  be  in  danger. 

And  it  is  this  same  sense  of  self -giving  love  that  Reverence 
guides  Jesus  in  what  he  has  to  say  concerning  the  ^nVthV^^^^ 
child  {g:  16-^7)  10:13-16).  One  sees  in  Jesus*  chUdUke 
sense  of  the  priceless  value  of  the  child  and  his  ^^^^^®^- 
reverence  for  him  as  a  person  (9:37;  10  :  14),  and 
in  his  conviction  of  the  essential  significance  of 
the  childlike  qualities  (10: 14,  15),  once  again,  an 
immediate  and  inevitable  inference  from  his  key- 
thought  of  God  as  Father,  or  of  a  reverent  love  as 
the  very  essence  of  life.  For  if  God  is  Father,  and 
we  his  children,  then  our  main  business  will  be  to 
show  the  true  spirit  of  children,  the  childlike  quali- 
ties. And  toward  every  child,  as  a  child  of  God, 
we  shall  have  that  reverence  that  betokens  a  true 
sense  of  the  sacredness  and  value  of  his  personal- 
ity, and  we  shall  prize  his  fundamental  qualities  of 
trust  and  teachableness.  For  if  there  is  love  at 
the  heart  of  the  world,  if  there  is  a  real  moral 
trend  in  the  universe,  then  all  our  ethical  life  roots 
in  initial  faith  in  that  love,  in  the  certainty  of  that 
moral  trend.  When,  then,  Jesus  says  :  "  Suffer 
the  little  children  to  come  unto  me;  forbid  them 


136 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


The 

emancipa- 
tion of  the 
child. 


Tolerance. 


not:  for  to  such  belongeth  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Whosoever  shall  not  receive  the  kingdom  of  God 
as  a  little  child,  he  shall  in  no  wise  enter  therein  " 
(lo:  14-15),^  —  he  is  not  only  insisting  upon  the 
value  of  the  child  himself,  but  he  is  insisting  at 
the  same  time,  in  rehgious  phrase,  upon  the  fun- 
damental nature  of  the  qualities  of  trust  and  open- 
mindedness  for  all  moral  and  spiritual  development, 
just  as  the  scientist  insists  upon  a  like  trust  in  the 
rationality  of  the  world,  and  a  like  absolute  open- 
mindedness  toward  the  facts,  for  progress  in  the 
scientific  world. 

These  passages  and  the  other  —  "Whosoever 
shall  receive  one  of  such  little  children  in  my  name 
receiveth  me;  and  whosoever  receiveth  me  re- 
ceiveth  not  me  but  him  that  sent  me"  —  are 
nothing  less  than  an  emancipation  of  the  child,  and 
they  make  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  humanity. 
For  it  is  here  once  for  all  declared  that  the  child 
is  not  property,  nor  slave,  but  a  sacred  personality, 
to  be  reverenced  and  treated  as  such.  This  rever- 
ent ministry  to  the  child,  Jesus  says,  he  accepts  as 
ministry  to  himself  and  as  ministry  to  God. 

So,  too,  the  spirit  of  ministering  love  may  not 
maintain  selfish  exclusiveness  in  that  ministry.  And 
here  falls  Mark's  notable  incident  of  the  one  whom 
the  disciples  found  casting  out  demons  in  the 
name  of  Jesus,  and  whom  they  forbade,  "  because 
he  followed  not"  with  them  (9:38-41).  Jesus' 
answer  is :  "  Forbid  him  not :  for  there  is  no  man 

^  Cf.  S.  A.  Brooke,  Christ  in  Modern  Life^  pp.  275  ff. 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN   MARK  1 37 

who  shall  do  a  mighty  work  in  my  name,  and  be 
able  quickly  to  speak  evil  of  me.  For  he  that  is 
not  against  us  is  for  us.  For  whosoever  shall  give 
you  a  cup  of  water  to  drink,  because  ye  are  Christ's, 
verily  I  say  unto  you,  he  shall  in  no  wise  lose  his 
reward."  That  is  to  say,  the  spirit  of  loving  ser- 
vice must  fruit  in  appreciation  of  such  service  in 
any  other,  and  in  the  broad  tolerance  which  issues 
from  such  appreciation.  The  spirit  of  love,  as  we 
saw,  rises  high  above  all  party  shibboleths  and  all 
divisions;  for  in  the  service  of  love  there  is  no 
room  for  selfish  exclusiveness. 

And  love  changes  not  only  the  self-seeking  am-  Reverent 
bition  into  ambition  for  surpassing  service,  and  con-  J^arriage 
tempt  for  children  into  reverence  for  childhood  and 
the  childlike  qualities,  and  the  spirit  of  selfish  exclu- 
siveness into  the  broad  tolerance  that  looks  to  the 
spirit  of  the  man  and  not  to  his  party  affiliations ; 
but,  as  we  have  already  seen  in  the  doubly  attested 
sayings,  it  applies  equally  to  the  problem  of  mar- 
riage. The  sayings  that  are  added  in  Mark  to  the 
doubly  attested  saying  on  this  topic,  only  make  the 
more  clear  that  Jesus'  great  contention  is  that  true 
marriage  allows  no  tyrannical  spirit  in  either  hus- 
band or  wife  (Mark  10:5),  but  demands  a  reverent 
love  (v.  7),  that  seeks  a  relation  that  shall  be  com- 
plete and  permanent  (vv.  8-9).^ 

And,  once  more,  it  is  but  an  application  of  the 

1  Ctr.  the  remarkable  imputing  to  Jesus  teaching  which  he  here 
distinctly  repudiates,  in  the  article  "  Jesus  or  Christ,"  in  the  Hib- 
bert  Journal,  January,  1909. 


138  THE  ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

The  peril  of  same  spirit  of  ministering  love  which  Jesus  ap- 
wealth.  ^YiQs  to  the  problem  of  wealth  ^  in  the  incident  of 

the  rich  young  man  and  his  comment  upon  it 
(Mark  10: 17-31).  Just  as  in  all  these  other  cases 
Jesus  has  not  been  cutting  down  hfe  and  hemming 
it  in,  but,  in  accordance  with  his  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  love  as  life,  has  pointed  the  way  to  larger 
life,  so  here,  too,  it  is  the  peril  of  the  lower  attain- 
ment which  Jesus  feels,  the  danger  that  there  is 
for  the  man  that  he  will  be  possessed  by  things 
instead  of  possessing  them.  He  knows  how  heavy 
a  price  is  often  paid  for  wealth,  how  treacherously 
distracting  and  absorbing  wealth  may  be,  eating 
the  heart  out  of  life ;  he  knows  how  appetite  for 
acquisition  may  become  a  disease,  an  insanity 
without  compensating  reward;  he  knows  how  it 
tends  to  blind  the  eyes  and  to  paralyze  the  powers 
for  the  best  things ;  he  knows  men  come  to  trust  in 
riches  to  the  exclusion  of  all  else,  and  so  to  let  go 
of  any  worthy  goal  in  life.  He  knows  how  more 
than  likely  it  is  that  wealth  will  mean  the  sacri- 
fice of  children,  that  where  the  need  is  for  the 
severest  training  and  self-discipline  as  for  a  king's 
task,  there  will  really  be  easy  self-indulgence,  with- 
out   goal,   and    without    self-control.     Jesus    has 

1  See  the  later  discussions  of  Luke's  parables  of  the  rich  fool,  of 
the  unrighteous  steward,  and  of  Dives  and  Lazarus,  pp.  174,  183, 
187.  Cf.  Mathews,  The  Social  Teaching  of  Jesus,  ch.  VI;  Pea- 
body,  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question,  chs.  IV,  V,  VI ;  Peile, 
The  Reproach  of  the  Gospel,  pp.  108  ff.;  Murray,  Handbook  of  Chris- 
tian Ethics,  pp.  278  ff. ;  Rauschenbusch,  Christianity  and  the  Social 
Crisis,  pp.  74  ff. 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN   MARK  1 39 

really  set  before  himself  the  problem  our  own 
time  feels,  the  perilous  problem  of  conquering 
wealth,  more  perilous  than  the  problem  of  conquer- 
ing poverty.  He  knows  how  imperatively  wealth 
demands  unusual  self-control,  disciplined  powers, 
and  the  domination  of  these  material  interests  by 
larger  and  more  ideal  interests.  For,  in  his  thought, 
wealth  is  both  a  trust  and  a  peril.^  He  does  not 
doubt  that  wealth  is  a  good,  but  it  is  a  good  only 
in  its  lower  relative  place,  and  as  mastered  by 
greater  ends  than  itself,  —  made  a  servant  of  self- 
forgetful  love.  And  he  knows  quite  as  surely  the 
peril  which  is  involved  in  its  possession.  The  un- 
varnished chronicle  of  events  in  our  own  land  in 
the  last  ten  years  would  seem  to  be  an  all-sufficient 
commentary  on  these  sayings  of  Jesus :  "  How 
hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God.  How  hard  is  it  for  them  that 
trust  in  riches  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  " 
(10:23-24). 

The  spirit  called  for  here,  it  is  to  be  once  more  The  loving 
noticed,  is  not  asceticism  ;2  but  there  is  a  clear  ^.f^^ierlif 
recognition  of  the  peril  of  the  lower  attainment,  of 
letting  the  lesser  possessions  jeopardize  the  greater, 
of  sacrificing  life  to  **  the  abundance  of  the  things  " 
a  man  possesseth.^  That  Jesus  does  not  believe, 
and  cannot  believe,  on  his  principle  of  a  self -giving 
love  as  life,  that  he  is  thereby  calling  the  men  of 

1  Cf.  Peabody,  op.  cii.,  p.  212. 

2  See  above,  pp.  66,  loi. 

*  Cf.  Peile,  The  Reproach  of  the  Gospel,  pp.  114  ff. 


I40 


THE   ETHICS    OF  JESUS 


Modern 
progress 
toward  this 
principle 
of  Jesus. 


the  true  life  to  something  less,  is  clearly  seen  in 
his  answer  to  Peter, —  "  There  is  no  man  that  has 
left  house,  or  brethren,  or  sisters,  or  mother,  or 
father,  or  children,  or  lands,  for  my  sake,  and  for 
the  gospel's  sake,  but  he  shall  receive  a  hundred- 
fold now  in  this  time,  houses,  and  brethren,  and 
sisters,  and  mothers,  and  children,  and  lands,  with 
persecutions ;  and  in  the  world  to  come  eternal 
life  "  (lO :  29-30).  Jesus  has  no  doubt,  and  if  his 
principle  is  true  he  can  have  no  doubt,  that  the 
man  of  the  loving  life  is  to  get,  that  is,  vastly  more 
out  of  life  than  the  selfish  man  possibly  can.  His 
phrase,  "  with  persecutions,"  clearly  recognizes 
that  he  does  not  mean,  nor  believe,  that  the  loving 
Hfe  will  be  without  its  difficulties  and  hardships 
and  trials,  but  that  nevertheless  now  and  here,  as 
well  as  in  the  life  to  come  which  he  posits,  the 
life  will  be  far  more  significant  and  far  more  re- 
warding. The  life  of  loving  service  need  have  no 
envy  of  the  mean  and  selfish  and  self-centered  life 
dominated  by  material  possessions.  That  is  to  say, 
Jesus  believes  that  a  world  that  is  fundamentally 
moral  is  made  on  such  a  principle  that  selfishness 
is  an  inevitable  limitation  of  life,  and  love  just  as 
inevitably  an  enlargement. 

And  here,  too,  our  generation  has  made,  on  the 
part  at  least  of  the  far-seeing,  rapid  progress 
toward  some  sharing  of  this  vision  of  Jesus.  We 
are  fast  coming  to  the  time  when  unearned,  spe- 
cial privileges  shall  be  no  longer  counted  a  badge 
of   honor,  but  rather   a   mark   of   shame;    when 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN   MARK  I4I 

the  possession  of  wealth  for  which  a  man  has 
rendered  no  adequate  service  to  society  shall  be 
accounted  not  honorable  but  disgraceful;  when 
it  shall  be  clear  to  all  men  that  the  larger  the  pos- 
session of  power  of  any  kind,  the  greater  is  the 
service  which  in  all  honor  must  be  rendered  to 
society.  That  is  to  say,  here,  too,  we  are  fast  com- 
ing to  see  that  the  teaching  of  Jesus  is  not  only 
not  impracticable,  but  is  the  only  teaching  upon 
which  any  civilization,  that  our  reason  and  con- 
science can  recognize  as  justifiable,  can  be  built. 

There  is  one  other,  almost  incidental,  application  Duty  to 
of  his  fundamental  principle  which  Mark  records,  ^^^^f  ^^  ^^^ 

^  ^  '    aside  by 

in  Jesus'  answer  to  the  question  as  to  tribute  to  religious 
Caesar,  —  "  Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  ^""p^^^- 
Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's  " 
(12:17).  Jesus  solve%  the  puzzle  of  policy,  or  of 
seeming  conflict  of  duties  to  the  theocracy  on  the 
one  hand,  and  to  the  Roman  government  on  the 
other,  by  simple,  straightforward,  honest  discrimi- 
nation. The  coin  itself  showed  a  government 
responsible  for  law  and  the  machinery  of  civiliza- 
tion, rendering  a  real  and  accepted  service;  and 
hence  having  a  right,  at  least  so  far,  to  support,  as 
recognized  in  their  own  act  in  using  the  coin. 
There  is,  therefore,  here  a  just  obligation  to  be 
met  as  a  part  of  duty,  not  to  be  refused  on  the 
ground  of  religious  scruples ;  there  was  no  real 
opposition.  It  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  pressing 
this  saying  too  far  to  say  that  it  gives  just  recog- 
nition  to   the  relative  independence  of  the  state. 


OF   THE 


142  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

and  sees  that  religion  is  not  an  exclusive  interest, 
and  is  never  to  be  made  an  excuse  for  avoiding  the 
just  claims  of  society.  Farther  than  that  it  is  not 
to  be  pressed.^  As  contrasted  with  some  comments 
upon  the  passage,  it  seems  to  me  rather  that  it  is 
to  be  said,  that  there  is  at  least  no  hint  here  that 
the  state  is  of  no  account.  There  is  no  suggestion 
of  mere  "  ethics  of  the  end."  Jesus  speaks  here 
with  true  moral  insight,  without  a  trace  of  fanati- 
cism, not  evading  the  question,  but  putting  his 
answer  on  impregnable  ground,  on  the  justness  of 
the  claims  both  of  the  Roman  government  and 
of  God.  Or,  as  Gould  puts  the  matter,  "  Jesus* 
answer  is  practically.  Do  not  try  to  make  one  duty 
exclude  another,  but  fulfill  one  so  as  to  consist 
with  all  the  rest." 
Mark's  The  parables  which  Mark  uses,  though  so  few, 

parables.  ^^^  ^jj  fundamental  to  the  whole  method  and  faith 
and  aim  of  Jesus,  —  the  parables  of  the  sower, 
of  the  light,  of  the  fruit-bearing  earth,  and  of  the 
mustard  seed.  The  parables  of  the  light  and  of 
the  mustard  seed  have  already  been  dealt  with. 
In  the  parable  of  the  sower,  Jesus  indicates  his 
clear  discernment  that  results  in  moral  and  spir- 
itual work  depend  not  alone  on  the  seed  but  also 
on  the  soil,  not  alone  on  the  truth  but  also  on  the 
choice  of  the  hearer;  and  he  suggests  the  ways  in 
which  the  truth  may  be  hindered  in  the  hearts  of 
men.     And   so   he   brings   home   once   more   his 

1  Cf.  Mathews,  T^e  Social  Teaching  of  JesuSy  p.  Ii8;  Rauschen- 
busch,  Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis,  p.  88. 


THE   ETHICAL   TEACHING   IN   MARK  1 43 

sense  of  the  seriousness  of  life.  In  the  parable  of 
the  fruit-bearing  earth,  Jesus  shows  his  faith  in  the 
growth  of  the  good,  and  hence  of  the  adaptation 
of  the  truth  to  the  human  soul,  and  he  builds 
directly  upon  this  assurance,  while  he  recognizes 
at  the  same  time  that  the  truth  must  come  to  frui- 
tion gradually.  This  faith  in  the  working  of  God 
or  of  the  truth  in  men,  is  one  more  evidence  of 
Jesus'  great  underlying  faith  in  the  moral  trend 
of  the  universe,  expressed  ethically,  or  in  the 
fatherhood  of  God,  expressed  in  religious  terms. 
All  these,  we  may  be  sure,  were  vital  insights  for 
Jesus  himself  in  the  prosecution  of  his  own  work 
in  face  of  increasing  opposition  and  certain  final 
external  defeat.  He  needed  to  steady  his  soul 
with  these  truths  of  his  fundamental  faith ;  and  he 
simply  shares  them  with  others  in  these  parables. 

When  one  reviews  the  ethical  teaching  in  Mark,  Summary 
he  finds  that  Jesus*  message  involved  the  ethical  ^^.^^ 
faith  in  the  moral  trend  of  the  universe;  that  his  teaching  in 
method  is  the  contagion  of  the  good  life ;  that  his  ^^^^* 
motive  is  love  and  the  sense  of  the  need  of  men ; 
that  his  goal  is  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom 
of   love;   that  Jesus  sees   his  teaching  as  plainly 
contrasted  with  that  prevalent  in  his  time  with  its 
trend  toward  externalism,  traditionalism,  and  cere- 
monialism ;  and  that  he  has  such  a  sense  of  the 
necessity  of  a  mental  and  spiritual  inwardness  and 
independence,  as  makes  him  certain  that  none  of  the 
old  forms   are   adequate  to  his  new  spirit;    that 
Jesus   discerns  the  basic  nature   of   the  childlike 


144  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

qualities,  and  states  his  one  all-embracing  principle 
of  love  in  the  great  paradox  and  the  great  com- 
mandment ;  and  applies  this  principle  — that  one  is 
to  do  always  and  only  what  love  enjoins  —  sugges- 
tively to  the  social  problems  of  ambition,  wealth, 
the  child,  marriage,  and  the  state. 
Conclusion.  The  summaries  of  the  ethical  teaching  in  Q  and 
in  Mark,  thus  show  that  into  that  teaching,  in 
both  these  oldest  sources,  the  ethical  teaching  of 
the  earlier  criteria  clearly  fits.  In  these  longer 
sources  the  same  ethical  notes  and  emphases  are 
to  be  found  only  further  confirmed  and  amplified. 
The  different  presentations  are  thoroughly  har- 
monious. 


CHAPTER   IV 

ESTIMATES  OF  THE  ETHICAL  TEACHING  IN  THE 
SAYINGS  OF  JESUS  PECULIAR  TO  EITHER 
MATTHEW  OR  LUKE 

I.    The  ethical  teaching  peculiar  to  Matthew. 

Building  directly  upon  Allen's  analysis  of  Mat- 
thew, in  the  International  Critical  Commentary^  and  j^^^^  to"be^ 
omitting,  from  his  list  of  matter  found  only  in  considered. 
Matthew,  all  narrative  passages,  all  passages  in- 
dicated as  editorial,  all  the  non-ethical,  all  passages 
from  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  and  all  parallels  to 
it,  and  omitting  also  passages  already  covered, 
there  remain  to  be  treated  here  the  following  list 
of  passages :  — 

1.  Matt.  io:i6b,  41.     "Wise  as  serpents."     "Hethatre- 

ceiveth  a  prophet." 

2.  Matt.  12  :  7, 1 1-12  a,  36-37.   "  I  desire  mercy,"  etc.   Sheep 

fallen  into  a  pit  on  the  Sabbath.     "  Idle  word." 

3.  Matt.  13  :  51-52.     Every  scribe  like  a  householder. 

4.  Matt.  15:13.     "  Every  plant  my  Father  planted  not." 

5.  Matt.  18:3-4,  10,  14,  23-35.     "Except  become  as  little 

children."  "  Despise  not  one  of  these  little  ones." 
" Not  the  will  of  Father  one  should  perish."  Parable  of 
unforgiving  servant. 

6.  Matt.  19:12.     Eunuchs  for  the  kingdom. 

7.  Matt.  20:1-15.     Parable  of  laborers  in  the  vineyard. 

8.  Matt.  21:16,   28-31.     "Out  of  the   mouth    of   babes.'' 

Parable  of  two  sons. 

L  145 


146 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


Summary 
of  these 


The  note  of 
warning 
and  judg- 
ment. 


The  note  of 
mercy. 


.  J9.   Matt.  22  :  40.     "  On  these  two  commandments  the  whole 
law  hangeth." 

10.  Matt.  23:2-3,  5,  7  b-io,  15-22,  24,32-33.     "On  Moses' 

seat."  "  To  be  seen  of  men."  "  Be  not  called  Rabbi." 
Proselyting.  Blind  guides.  "  Strain  out  the  gnat." 
"  Fill  up  measure  of  your  fathers." 

11.  Matt.  25:1-13,    31-46.     Parable    of   the    ten    virgins. 

Judgment  scene. 

These  passages  consist  of  four  parables, — those  of 
the  unforgiving  servant,  of  the  laborers  in  the  vine- 
yard, of  the  two  sons,  and  of  the  ten  virgins;  con- 
siderable portions  of  the  two  discourses  on  the 
denunciation  of  the  Pharisees  and  on  the  Last 
Judgment ;  a  few  short  sayings  ;  and  three  grouped 
sayings  on  the  child  and  the  childlike  qualities 
(18:  3-4,  10,  14). 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  passages  peculiar  to 
Matthew  strongly  emphasize,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
notes  of  warning  and  judgment ^  as  in  the  denuncia- 
tion of  the  Pharisees  (ch.  23),  the  picture  of  the 
Last  Judgment  (ch.  25  ;  cf.  the  eschatological  dis- 
course, ch.  24),  the  parable  of  the  laborers  in  the 
vineyard  (20:1-15),  the  saying,  "Every  plant 
which  my  Heavenly  Father  planted  not  shall  be 
rooted  up  "  (15  :  13),  and  the  warning  concerning 
the  "idle  word"  (12:36-37),  illustrating  once 
again  Jesus'  sense  of  the  seriousness  of  life. 

At  the  same  time,  there  are  as  clearly  to  be  seen 
the  notes  of  mercy  ^  humility^  and  forgiveness  y  in  the 
saying,  "  I  desire  mercy,  and  not  sacrifice  "  (12  :  7), 
in  the  reference  to  the  rescue  of  the  sheep  on  the 
Sabbath  (12  :  ii-i2a),  in  the  supreme  place  given 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  MATTHEW   1 47 

to  the  law  of  love  (22  :  40),  in  the  parable  of  the 
unforgiving  servant  (18  :  23-35),  and  in  the  judg- 
ment of  life  by  loving  service  (25  :  3 1-46).  Indeed, 
the  warning  of  judgment  is  particularly  for  those 
who  show  lack  of  sympathy  and  love  (cf.  10  :  41  ; 
12 :  7,  ii-i2a;  ch.  18). 

In  connection  with  these  passages  peculiar  to  Matthew's 
Matthew,  there  is  naturally  to  be  raised  the  ques-  editorial 

,,.,-.,.  viewpoint. 

tion.  What  is  to  be  found  m  Matthew's  gospel  that 
might  be  referred  to  the  editorial  point  of  view, 
rather  than  to  be  thought  of  as  belonging  directly 
to  Jesus  ?  1  For  our  purposes  Allen's  brief  sum- 
mary in  the  article  on  Matthew  in  the  Dictionary 
of  Christ  and  the  Gospels  may  be  adopted.  At 
three  points,  he  thinks  that  the  influence  of  the 
editor's  own  point  of  view  is  pretty  clearly  to  be 
seen  :  as  to  the  permanence  of  the  law,  as  to  the 
near  approach  of  the  Kingdom,  and  as  to  the  scope 
of   the   gospel.^    These  peculiarities   of  Matthew 

1  Cf.  arts.  "  Matthew,"  H.  D.  B.,  and  Encyclopedia  Biblica  ;  The 
International  Critical  Commentary,  "  Matthew,"  pp.  309  ff. 

'^  As  to  "  the  permanence  of  the  law,"  Allen  thinks,  "  it  is  prob- 
able that  we  must  make  allowance  here  for  some  over-emphasis  due 
to  local  and  national  prejudice  which  interpreted  Christ's  sayings  in 
the  direction  which  the  history  of  the  Jewish  people  seemed  to 
warrant  "  (p.  148).  As  to  "the  near  approach  of  the  Kingdom," 
Allen  reaches  this  conclusion :  "  These  facts  suggest  irresistibly  the 
conclusion  that  the  editor  or  the  tradition  which  he  follows  has,  by 
accumulating  sayings  of  one  kind,  and  by  modifying  others  to  some 
slight  extent  in  order  to  give  them  the  required  meaning,  given  the 
impression  that  the  Lord  taught  a  nearness  of  his  coming  to  in- 
augurate the  Kingdom,  which  goes  beyond  what  he  himself  origi- 
nally intended"  (p.  149).      As  to  narrowing  "the  scope  of  the 


148  THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

practically  affect  no  part  of  the  ethical  teaching, 
as  we  have  taken  the  passages,  and  for  these 
passages  Schmiedel's  statement  fairly  holds  :  ^  "It 
is  when  the  purely  religious-ethical  utterances  of 
Jesus  come  under  consideration  that  we  are  most 
advantageously  placed.  Here  especially  applies 
the  maxim  laid  down  that  we  may  accept  as  cred- 
ible everything  that  harmonizes  with  the  idea  of 
Jesus  which  has  been  derived  from  what  we  have 
called  the  foundation-pillars,  and  is  not  otherwise 
open  to  fatal  objection.  Even  though  such  utter- 
ances may  have  been  liable  to  Ebionitic  heighten- 
ing, and  already,  as  showing  traces  of  this,  cannot 
lay  claim  to  literal  accuracy  —  even  though  they 
may  have  been  unconsciously  modified  into  accord 
with  conditions  of  the  Christian  community  that  arose 
only  at  a  later  date  —  even  though  they  may  have 
undergone  some  distortion  of  their  meaning  through 
transference  to  a  connection  that  does  not  belong 
to  them  —  the  spirit  which  speaks  in  them  is  quite 
unmistakable.  Here  we  have  a  wide  field  of  the 
wholly  credible  in  which  to  expatiate." 

Since  Matthew's  version  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  is  deferred  for  later  discussion,  it  will  be 
possible  to  deal  quite  briefly  with  the  other  special 
ethical  passages  peculiar  to  him,  guiding  the  dis- 

Gospel,"  Allen  believes  that  "  here  again  we  must,  as  it  would 
seem,  make  some  allowance  for  over-emphasis,  due  partly  to  artificial 
arrangement  of  Christ's  sayings,  partly  to  a  limited  insight  into  their 
true  scope  and  meaning,  which  was  due  to  past  religious  training  " 
(p.  150). 

1  Encyclopedia  Biblica,  art.  "Gospels,"  col.  1889. 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  MATTHEW   1 49 

cussion  by  comparison  with  "  the  laws  of  life  "  as 
brought  out  in  the  doubly  attested  sayings. 

We  find,  then,  in  the  first  place,  that  Matthew  Love  the 
expresses,  as  clearly  as  Mark,  Jesus'  faith  in  the  ^°^^  °^ 
goal  of  life :  in  his  belief  in  the  certain  defeat  of 
evil,  —  "  Every  plant  which  my  heavenly  Father 
planted  shall  not  be  rooted  up"  (15  :  13);  ^  in  the 
assertion  of  opportunity  for  all,  in  the  parable  of 
the  laborers  in  the  vineyard  (20  :  1-15)  ;  and  in  the 
conviction  that  love  is  the  sum  of  life,  in  the  say- 
ing, "  On  these  two  commandments  the  whole  law 
hangeth,  and  the  prophets  "  (22  :  40),  and  in  the 
standard  of  the  Last  Judgment  (25  :  31-46). 

At  the  same  time,  these  sayings  of  Jesus  peculiar  The  de- 
to  Matthew  point  out  clearly  the  laws  of  life  for  "^^^^^ 
oneself  and  for  his  relations  to  others.  For  the  man  individual. 
himself  there  is  the  same  demand  for  absolute 
genuineness  (23:5,  15-22,  24,  32-33),  for  inward- 
ness of  life  (23  :  3,  15-22,  24,  28,  32-33),  for  vigi- 
lant watchfulness  (the  parable  of  the  ten  virgins, 
25  :  1-13),  and  for  willingness  to  obey  to  the  end, 
in  the  possibility  of  sacrifice  suggested  in  the  say- 
ing :  **  There  are  eunuchs,  that  made  themselves 
eunuchs  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake.  He 
that  is  able  to  receive  it,  let  him  receive  it "  ( 19 :  12). 
The  demand  for  genuineness  and  inwardness  of 
life  is  seen  especially  in  the  denunciation  of  the 
Pharisees,  where  (in  addition  to  like  sayings  in  Q) 
Jesus  repudiates  the  motive  of  being  seen  of  men, 

1  Cf.  the  positive  faith  in  the  triumph  of  the  good  in  the  parables 
of  the  mustard  seed  and  of  the  leaven. 


150  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

unholy  proselytism,  the  spirit  of  the  blind  guide, 
the  straining  out  of  the  gnat,  and  the  filling  up  of 
the  measure  of  false  fathers. 
Relations  j  As  to  relations  to  others,  Jesus  demands  again  the 
to  others.  fundamental  and  all-embracing  spirit  of  love  (22 :  40 ; 
12:7,  ii-i2a;23:7b-io),  with  its  active  minister- 
ing service  (25  :  31-46),  its  steady  reverence  for 
personality  (10:41;  18:3-4,  iOj  14?  21:16; 
23:2-3),  and  its  duty  of  forgiveness  (18 :  23-25). 
There  is  involved  at  the  same  time,  once  more,  the 
recognition  of  the  basic  value  of  the  childlike  quali- 
ties, in  the  passages  in  chapter  18,  and  in  23:7  b- 
10.  Solemn  responsibility  for  one's  speech  is 
affirmed  in  the  saying  concerning  the  "  idle  word" 
(12:36-37):  "And  I  say  unto  you,  that  every 
idle  word  that  men  shall  speak,  they  shall  give 
account  thereof  in  the  day  of  judgment.  For  by 
thy  words  thou  shalt  be  justified,  and  by  thy  words 
thou  shalt  be  condemned."  Tact  and  adaptation 
are  enjoined  in  the  saying,  "  Be  ye  therefore  wise 
as  serpents,  and  harmless  as  doves  "(10:  16 b),  and 
in  the  parable  of  the  scribe  of  the  Kingdom  bring- 
ing forth  "  out  of  his  treasure  things  new  and  old  " 
(13  :  51-52).  And  the  perpetual  need,  in  judging 
men,  of  taking  account  of  temperament  and  the 
final  issue  of  their  conduct,  is  set  forth  in  the  par- 
able of  the  two  sons  (21 :  28-31).  Jesus  uses  this 
parable  specifically,  according  to  Matthew,  to  con- 
trast the  more  hopeful  attitude  of  the  publicans 
and  harlots  with  the  blind  rejection  of  his  mes- 
sage by  the  religious  authorities.     Not  those  who 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  MATTHEW   I5I 

"say,"  but  those  who  "go,"  do  the  will  of  God 
(21:31-32). 

As  one  looks  back  over  the  spirit,  thus  demanded  The  extent 
in  relation  to  others,  he  sees  that  it  is  hardly  pos-  demands 
sible  to  put  more  strongly  the  insistence  upon  the  here  made, 
active  ministry  of  love  than  in  the  picture  of  the 
Last   Judgment  scene,  —  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it 
not  unto  one  of  these  least,"  etc.     Has  the  church 
ever  recognized  how  deep-going  Jesus'  utterance 
here  is  ?  ^ 

The  spirit  of  reverence  for  the  person  also  is 
expressed  most  decisively  in  the  requirement  of 
the  spirit  of  a  little  child  (18 :  3-4),  in  the  saying, 
"  See  that  ye  despise  not  one  of  these  little  ones" 
(18  :  10),  and  in  the  further  saying,  "  Even  so  it  is 
not  the  will  of  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  that 
one  of  these  little  ones  should  perish "  (18:14). 
And  the  unthinkableness  that  the  unforgiving 
spirit  should  accompany  the  loving  life  is  set  forth 
in  the  parable  of  the  unforgiving  servant  (18  :  23- 
35),  in  almost  the  only  language  of  sarcasm  which 
Jesus  is  known  to  have  employed.  The  unforgiv- 
ing spirit  inevitably  shuts  out  from  life  (18  :  34-35). 

All  this  is  only  to  say  that  the  ethical  notes  of  Summary. 
Jesus'  teaching,  as  they  come  out  in  these  teaching 
passages  peculiar  to  Matthew,  confirm  the  trends 
previously  seen,  and  fit  harmoniously  into  them. 
There  can  be  no  mistaking,  thus,  the  earnestness 
of  Jesus  and  his  sense  of  the  seriousness  of  life, 
in   these   passages  in  Matthew,  no  mistaking  his 

iCf.  The  Creed  of  Christ,  pp.  16-18. 


152 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


Amount 
and  credi- 
bility of 
material 
peculiar  to 
Luke. 


in  Luke  here 
to  be  con- 
sidered. 


demand  for  genuineness  and  inwardness  in  the 
moral  life,  no  doubt  of  his  insistence  on  reverence 
for  the  person  in  relation  to  others,  no  doubt  that 
religion  seems  to  him  ethical  through  and  through. 
The  sense  of  the  contrast  of  his  teaching  with  that 
of  his  times  is  also  manifest;  and  at  the  same  time 
the  spirit  of  compassion  permeates  the  whole. 

II.    The  peculiar  teaching  in  Luke} 

Hawkins  estimates  that  612  verses  out  of  1149 
in  Luke  are  peculiar  to  him ;  and  this  material  pe- 
culiar to  Luke  includes,  in  Plummer's  summary,  6 
miracles  and  18  parables.^  The  large  amount  of 
this  pecuHar  material  in  Luke,  most  of  which,  so 
far  as  the  teaching  is  concerned,  there  seems  no 
reason  to  question,^  naturally  requires  a  somewhat 
extended  treatment.  When  this  material  peculiar 
to  Luke  is  carefully  surveyed,  omitting  the  narra- 
tive material,  the  non-ethical  passages,  the  parallels 
to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  passages  already 
covered  or  virtually  covered,  we  have  left  (follow- 
ing Hawkins'  classification)  for  special  considera- 
tion here  the  following  list  of  passages  :  — 

I.   Longer  sections  peculiar  to  Luke. 

i)   7  :  40-50.     Simon  and  the  woman ;  and  the  parable  of 
the  two  debtors. 

1  Cf.  Swete,  Studies  in  the  Teaching  of  Our  Lord,  pp.  97  ff. 

2  See  Bebb,  art.  "  Luke,"  H.  D.  B. ;  Hawkins,  flora  Synoptica^ 
pp.  158  ff. ;  Plummer,  International  Critical  Commentary,  "  Luke," 
p.  xli. 

8  Cf.  Wright,  art.  "Luke,"  D.  C.  G.,  p.  88 :  «  It  would  be  mere 
scepticism  to  throw  much  doubt  on  these  utterances."  See  also 
Wernle,  Sources  of  Our  Knoiv  ledge  of  the  Life  of  Jesus,  pp.  145  ff.,  152. 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     1 53 

2)  9  :  62.   "  No  man  having  put  his  hand  to  the  plow,"  etc. 

3)  10  :  28-37.     Parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan. 

4)  12  :  14-21,  47-50.     Avaricious  brother;  parable  of  the 

rich  fool ;  "  Beaten  with  many  stripes  " ;  and  "  bap- 
tism to  be  baptized  with." 

5)  13:2-5,6-9,15-16.    The  slain  Galileans.    Parable  of 

barren  fig  tree.     Ox  and  woman. 

6)  14:7-11,  12-14,  28-33.     Parable  of  the  chief  seats. 

"  When  thou  makest  a  dinner."     Counting  the  cost. 

7)  15  :  8-32.     Parables  of  lost  coin  and  lost  son. 

8)  16:1-12,   14-15,  19-31-     Parable  of  the  unrighteous 

steward.   Comment  on  scoffing  of  Pharisees.   Parable 
of  rich  man  and  Lazarus. 

9)  17  :  7-10.     Parable  of  extra  service. 

10)  18  :  9-14.     Parable  of  Pharisee  and  publican. 

11)  19:9-10.     As  to  Zacchaeus. 

2.   Shorter  passages^  excluding  virtual  repetitions. 

i)    12:35-38.      "Let  your  loins  be  girded  about,"   etc. 
Cf.  21 :  34-36. 

2)  21  :  19.     "  In  your  patience  ye  shall  win  your  souls." 

3)  23  :  34.      "  Father,  forgive  them ;  for  they  know  not 

what  they  do."  ^ 

1  The  "longer  sections  "  in  this  material  peculiar  to  Luke  include 
13  parables  and  8  shorter  sayings.  These  13  parables,  out  of 
Plummer's  18,  may  be  regarded  as  distinctly  ethical,  and  omit  from 
consideration,  thus,  the  parables  of  the  great  supper  and  of  the 
pounds,  as  already  virtually  covered  in  the  parables  of  the  marriage 
of  the  king's  son  and  of  the  talents;  the  parable  of  the  watchful 
servants  as  only  amplifying  teaching  already  considered;  as  well  as 
the  parables  of  the  friend  at  midnight,  and  the  unrighteous  judge, 
as  not  directly  ethical.  These  13  parables  are  the  parables  of  the 
two  debtors,  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  of  the  rich  fool,  of  the  barren 
fig  tree,  of  the  chief  seats,  of  the  rash  builder,  of  the  rash  king,  of 
the  lost  coin,  of  the  lost  son,  of  the  unrighteous  steward,  of  the  rich 
man  and  Lazarus,  of  the  unprofitable  servants,  and  of  the  Pharisee 
and  the  publican. 

The  8  shorter  sayings  are  the  sayings  concerning  putting  the 


154  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

The  notes  Two  aspccts  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  stand  out 

and  wSaing.  ^^^^  ^^  Luke,  in  these  "  longer  sections,"  as  in  the 
material  peculiar  to  Matthew,  —  the  aspect  of  gra- 
ciousness  and  the  aspect  of  warning ;  and,  as  there, 
the  warning  is  directed  impliedly  against  those  who 
'^refuse  to  take  on  the  life  of  love.     The  note  of  gra- 
i  cious  mercy  ^  comes  out  in  the  parables  of  the  two 
i  debtors,  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  of  the  lost  coin,  of 
;the  lost  son,  and  of  the  Pharisee  and  the  publican, 
ias  well  as  in  the  sayings  concerning  the  ox  and  the 
iwoman,  the  Galileans,  the  falling  of  the  tower  of 
Siloam,  making  a  dinner,  and  concerning  Zacchaeus. 
The  note  of  warning  comes  out  not  less  unmistak- 
ably in  the  parables  of  the  rich  fool,  of  the  barren 
fig  tree,  of  the  chief  seats,  of  the  rash  builder,  of 
the  rash  king,  of  the  unrighteous  steward,  of  the 
rich  man  and  Lazarus,  of  extra  service,  and  of  the 
Pharisee  and  the  publican ;  and  in  the  sayings  con- 
cerning putting  the  hand  to  the  plow  and  concern- 
ing fire  and  baptism,  and  in  the  answer  to  the 
scoffing  of  the  Pharisees. 
The  notes  of       It  is  plain  at  once,  from  this  very  brief  survey, 
rnd^micy      ^^^  impossible  it  is  to  connect  with  Matthew,  on 
not  incon-       the  oue  hand,  simply  the  note  of  warning  and 


sistent. 


hand  to  the  plow  (9:62),  the  servant  beaten  with  many  stripes 
(12:47-48),  the  fire  and  the  baptism  (12:49-50),  the  Galileans 
slain  by  Pilate,  and  the  falling  of  the  tower  in  Siloam  (13:  2-5), 
the  ox  and  the  woman  (13  :  15-16;  cf.  14:5),  the  making  of  a 
dinner  (14:  12-14),  Jesus'  answer  to  the  Pharisaic  scoffing  (16:  14- 
15),  the  saying  as  to  Zacchaeus  (19:9-10),  and  the  saying  con- 
cerning the  changed  conditions  which  the  disciples  must  face  (22 : 
35-38).  1  Cf.  Swete,  op.  cit.,  pp.  117  ff. 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     1 55 

judgment,  or  with  Luke,  on  the  other,  simply  that 
of  grace  and  mercy.  In  fact,  in  this  pecuUar  mate- 
rial, Luke  has  more  parables  of  warning  than  of 
grace.  But  both  Evangelists  present  the  teaching 
of  Jesus  as  having  inevitably  this  double  aspect. 
For  it  is  impossible  to  come  to  see  that  the  very 
life  of  God  is  the  loving  life,  and  not  see  at  the 
same  time  the  solemn  seriousness  that  attaches  to 
life,  in  the  necessity  of  this  choice  of  the  loving  life 
for  oneself ;  and  that  if  that  choice  of  the  loving 
life  is  not  made,  dwindling  life  must  follow.  It  is 
the  very  urgency  of  grace,  therefore,  which  is  to 
be  found  not  less  in  the  passages  of  warning  than 
in  those  of  tender  invitation.  This  is  the  inevitable 
fact,  that  some  critics  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  seem 
to  have  quite  failed  to  see. 

Of  the  1 1 3  verses  of  shorter  peculiar  variations  Luke's 
in  Luke  which  Hawkins  makes  out,  there  are  only  ^^°f*f5 

'  J    variations. 

two  that  are  directly  ethical  that  have  not  been  al- 
ready virtually  covered :  the  single  sentence,  "  In 
your  patience  ye  shall  win  your  souls"  (21  :  19), 
and  the  prayer  on  the  cross,  **  Father,  forgive  them ; 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do  "  (23  :  34) ;  though 
it  should  be  noted  that  these  passages  do  include 
an  emphatic  amplification  of  the  exhortation  to 
vigilant  watchfulness. 

The  discussion  of  Luke's  peculiar  material  natu-  The  two 
rally  falls  into  two  divisions :  the  consideration  of  ^J^^^^^^ 
the  so-called  **  parables  of  grace"  with  their  re-  discussion. 
lated  sayings,  and  the  consideration  of  the  parables 
of  warning  and  the  sayings  akin  to  these. 


156 


THE    ETHICS    OF    JESUS 


Faith  and 
love  over 
against 
suspicion 
and  pride. 


I.  To  turn  to  Luke's  characteristic  parables  of 
grace,  the  first  is  found  in  the  story  of  Simon  and 
the  woman,  with  its  parable  of  the  two  debtors 
(7  •  36-50).^  One  hesitates  to  touch  this  beautiful 
story ;  if  it  could  be  read  with  simple  full  under- 
standing it  were  enough.  The  story  is  character- 
istic of  Luke,  as  intended  to  show  Christ's  breadth 
of  sympathy  and  kindly  touch,  both  in  eating  with 
the  Pharisee,  and  in  forgiving  the  sinner.  There 
is  here  illustrated  the  artistic  selection  by  Luke  of 
an  incident  that  brings  out  these  points  in  vivid 
pictorial  contrasts.  The  whole  incident  is  an  em- 
bodiment of  penitent  loving  faith  on  the  part  of 
the  woman  and  trusting  and  forgiving  love  on  the 
part  of  Jesus,  against  the  background  of  cold  lack 
of  sympathy  and  suspicion  and  pride  that  has  no 
sense  of  need.  The  incident  brings  Jesus  into 
touch  with  the  two  marked  classes  of  his  time, 
the  Pharisees  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  publicans 
and  sinners  on  the  other,  —  his  world  in  little.  It 
illustrates  in  the  case  of  one  Pharisee,  of  evidently 
broader  mind  than  was  usual,  still  the  greater  ease 
with  which  Jesus  could  reach,  with  his  message  of 
a  Father  of  forgiving  love,  the  recognized  sinner 
than  the  respectable  Pharisee.  This  concrete  sit- 
uation of  his  time  had  its  own  part,  no  doubt,  in 
leading  Jesus  to  his  emphasis  upon  humility  and 
trust  as  the  fundamental  qualities  of  the  religious 
life,  and  to  his  corresponding  sense  of  the  damn- 
ing nature  of  the  sins  of  contemptuous  pride  and 
^  Cf.  Matheson,  Studies  in  the  Portrait  0/ Jesus,  vol.  II,  pp.  94  ff . 


tude  of 
separation. 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     1 5/ 

distrust.  These  sins  Jesus  feels  to  be  deadly, 
both  for  oneself  and  for  others.  For  oneself,  be- 
cause pride  prevents  all  sense  of  need,  all  teach- 
ableness, and  therefore  all  growth ;  while  distrust 
prevents  one's  believing  in  the  love  of  God  and  of 
men,  and  believing  the  worst  gets  only  the  worst. 
For  others,  because  we  cannot  win  men  by  patro- 
nizing them ;  we  must  understand  them ;  that 
is,  we  must  see  their  likeness  to  us,  and  so  get 
some  sympathy  with  them,  and  respect  for  them ; 
while  distrust,  at  the  same  time,  breeds  its  own 
suspicions. 

The  story  illustrates,  also,  the  point  of  view  of  The  atti- 
the  Pharisee,  in  his  thought  of  the  mark  of  the 
prophet  (v.  39).  That  mark  he  felt  would  be  the 
discernment  of  the  sinner,  and  consequent  instant 
unsympathetic  separation  from  her,  instead  of  love 
and  a  sympathetic  redeeming  of  the  wrongdoer  to 
righteousness.  It  is  the  folly  and  sin  of  this  spirit, 
as  constituting  too  much  the  sum  total  of  the  state's 
entire  attitude  toward  the  evildoer,  to  which  our 
generation  is  slowly  awakening.  Just  here  lies 
the  strength  of  much  of  Tolstoy's  constant  con- 
tention in  his  Resurrection,  For  Luke  brings  out 
more  clearly  than  any  of  the  other  gospels  the 
fact  that  Jesus'  quarrel  with  the  Pharisaic  point 
of  view  is  not  only  with  their  externalism,  but 
with  their  negative  conception  of  righteousness 
as  separation  from  evil.  The  separatism  to  which 
their  very  name  points,  permeates  all  their  reli- 
gious thought.     So  God  is  conceived  as  separating 


158 


THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 


The  parable 
of  the  two 
debtors. 


Daring  to 
use  the 
highest 
forces. 


himself  from  sinners;  so  the  godly  man;  so  the 
way  of  life.  Simon  sees  not  only  no  mark  of 
divineness  in  Jesus  in  his  tender,  sympathetic, 
forgiving  love,  but  rather  evidence  that  he  is  not 
a  prophet  at  all.  This  will  come  out  still  more 
clearly  in  the  parable  of  the  lost  son,  in  the  set- 
ting which  Luke  gives  it. 

One  might  perhaps  paraphrase  Jesus'  answer 
to  Simon's  evident  inner  disapproval,  in  the  par- 
able of  the  two  debtors  and  in  his  words,  "  Where- 
fore I  say  unto  thee.  Her  sins,  which  are  many, 
are  forgiven ;  for  she  loved  much :  but  to  whom 
little  is  forgiven,  the  same  loveth  little"  (v.  47), — 
by  saying.  Her  abundant  love  shows  the  fruits  of 
forgiveness,  shows  her  own  sense  of  deep  sin,  and 
shows  in  her  penitence  her  sense  that  she  has 
been  forgiven  much;  and  it  is  her  faith  (v.  50), 
which  was  called  out  by  my  attitude  of  sympa- 
thetic love  —  ;?^^  by  unsympathetic,  hard  condem- 
nation and  withdrawal  from  her — exactly  this  that 
has  drawn  her  out  of  her  sin  into  desire  for  right- 
eousness,—  into  the  loving  life,  exactly  this  that 
has  "saved"  her.  Her  sins  are  forgiven  (v.  48); 
she  is  saved  now  in  real  reconciliation  of  purpose 
and  aim  with  God,  in  peace  (v.  50)  as  a  child  of 
the  Father. 

And,  even  in  the  merely  ethical  aspect,  our 
modern  life  calls  everywhere  for  this  sympathetic 
redeeming  spirit  of  Jesus.  In  the  Christian  era 
there  have  been  centuries  of  blundering  of  an  al- 
most criminal  kind  in  dealing  with  the  child  and 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     1 59 

with  the  wrongdoer.  All  the  gains  in  modern 
prison  discipline  and  reform  and  in  the  criminal 
courts  lie  in  the  direction  of  this  spirit  of  Jesus, 
in  the  aim  to  redeem  the  criminal  to  a  useful  and 
righteous  life,  as  the  best  possible  protection  of 
society;  in  the  consequent  aim,  therefore,  to 
understand  the  man,  to  respect  him,  to  awaken 
him  to  self-respect,  to  call  out  his  respect  and 
love,  to  help  him  to  self-conquest  by  faith  and 
love  —  the  mightiest  of  all  forces.  All  this  is  no 
sentimental  namby-pambyism,  but  the  determina- 
tion to  pay  the  cost  of  using  the  really  strongest 
forces  for  bringing  men  into  righteousness,  instead 
of  the  weakest  forces  —  physical  force  and  vio- 
lence—  simply  to  restrain  them  from  evil.  It  is 
the  chief  glory  of  Judge  Lindsey's  work,  and  the 
deepest  secret  of  his  achievement,  that  he  has 
dared  to  trust  the  highest  forces.  Is  it  too  much 
to  hope  that  in  the  widespread  recognition  of  work 
like  that  of  Judge  Lindsey,  a  great  new  divine  prin- 
ciple and  spirit  are  coming  into  government,  into 
the  interpretation  of  law,  into  social  and  civic  life, 
—  a  new  faith  that  we  can  trust  the  highest  forces, 
those  which  Jesus  himself  dared  to  use } 

Luke's  second  peculiar  parable,  that  of  the  Good  Parable  of 
Samaritan  (10:  30-37),  while  it  is  a  parable  of  the  samStLn. 
loving  life,  is  just  as  plainly,  of  course,  a  parable 
of  warning  against  the  unloving  spirit.  Whether 
Luke  is  right  in  the  setting  that  he  gives  to  this 
parable  or  not,  as  told  in  answer  to  the  question, 
"  Who  is  my  neighbor  ?  "  — and  there  seems  to  me 


[6o 


THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


A  minister- 
ing love. 


Response 
to  need. 


to  have  been  some  rather  superciUous  criticism  at 
this  point,  —  it  is  at  least  plain  that  the  parable 
does  set  forth  the  true  neighborly  spirit.  And 
whether  or  not  it  was  immediately  connected  with 
the  saying  summing  up  the  law  in  love,  Luke 
cannot  be  mistaken  in  seeing  in  the  story,  as  told 
by  Jesus,  a  practical  illustration  of  the  love  that  he 
demanded. 

Without  pressing  in  any  way  the  details  of  the 
parable,  three  things  at  least  stand  out.  In  the 
first  place,  there  is  here  to  be  seen  Jesus'  deep 
conviction  that  the  loving  life  demands  expression, 
is  not  merely  a  mood,  to  be  sentimentally  indulged 
in  private,  but  is  active  and  ministering.  (Cf. 
Matt.  25:31-46;  and  John  13:1-16.)  It  is  no 
mere  pity,  but  a  practical  showing  of  mercy.  Pity 
the  priest  and  the  Levite  may  have  had,  but  they 
quite  lacked  a  love  that  manifested  constant 
thoughtfulness,  willingness  to  put  oneself  out,  to 
take  pains,  not  to  excuse  oneself  on  account  of 
the  pressure  of  other  things.  They  had  "  engage- 
ments "  probably,  and  wanted  to  avoid  "uncom- 
fortable entanglements." 

In  the  second  place,  Jesus'  illustrative  interpre- 
tation of  the  law  of  love,  if  this  parable  is  so  to  be 
taken,  is  to  keep  men  from  emptying  that  love  of 
all  its  real  content.  There  is  no  real  love,  in  Jesus' 
thought,  where  one  is  not  willing  to  recognize  and 
minister  to  the  son  of  the  Father  in  each  man,  ac- 
cording to  his  need.  The  "  neighbor,"  the  parable 
teaches,  is  the  man  in  need. 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     l6l 

In  the  third  place,  it  is  not  by  accident  that  the  Tolerance, 
hero  of  this  story  is  a  Samaritan,  not  a  priest  nor 
a  Levite.  Jesus  so  emphasizes  the  central  point 
of  his  answer  to  the  lawyer,  if  Luke's  setting  is 
correct,  that  eternal  Hfe  is  in  love  alone,  not  in 
orthodoxy,  not  in  religious  practices,  not  in  holy 
office;  and  so  illustrates  at  the  same  time  the 
spirit  of  broad  tolerance  which  must  grow  out  of 
the  recognition  of  the  loving  spirit  in  all  men. 

But  the  two  great  outstanding  parables  of  grace,  Luke  15. 
of  course,  peculiar  to  Luke,  are  the  parables  of  the 
lost  coin  and  the  lost  son  (15  :8-io,  11-32).  And 
if  Bruce  might  say  that  for  Mark's  two  peculiar 
sayings  his  whole  gospel  was  worth  preservation, 
surely  we  may  say  of  Luke  that  it  would  have 
been  worth  preservation  for  the  single  story  of  the 
lost  son.  His  15th  chapter,  indeed,  including  the 
parable,  contained  in  the  other  gospels,  of  the  lost 
sheep,  may  be  said  to  be  his  great  peculiar  and 
characteristic  chapter.  It  contains,  to  his  mind 
evidently,  as  to  ours,  the  very  heart  of  Christ's 
whole  teaching. 

Luke's  setting  of  the  parables   has  been  ques-  Luke's 
tioned,  and  in  any  case  it  may  well  be  noted  that  the^pfrabies 
the   significance   of   the   teaching   of  the  parable  in  chapter 
does  not  depend  upon  this  setting ;  but  for  myself, 
in  verses  1-2,  Luke  seems  accurately  to  give  the 
circumstances,  for  the  parables  exactly  fit  the  situa- 
tion there  described.     Jesus'    universal  sympathy 
and  desire  to  help  are  manifestly  showing  them- 
selves more  and  more.     The  "  publicans  and  sin- 

M 


1 62 


THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 


Contrasted 
views  of 
holiness. 

The 

Pharisaic 
theory  of 
holiness. 


Jesus* 
view  of 
holiness. 


ners  "  are  consequently  "  drawing  near "  to  him 
increasingly.  This  very  thing  leads  to  growing 
criticism  on  the  part  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
who  see  in  the  publicans  and  sinners  his  favorite 
associates,  and  in  this,  evidence  that  he  is  himself 
but  a  poor  saint  and  a  poor  teacher  of  religion. 
The  mere  fact  that  he  thus  welcomes  these  com- 
parative outcasts  settles  the  matter  for  them. 
There  is  no  feeling  of  joy  in  the  thought  that 
these  are  being  won  to  something  better,  to  life 
and  good  and  God. 

The  two  attitudes  of  the  Pharisees  and  of 
Christ  turn  on  two  quite  contrasted  views  of  holi- 
ness, still  prevailing. 

The  Pharisaic  theory  makes  hoHness  freedom 
from  all  contamination  of  evil,  where  evil  is  treated 
as  the  positive  force,  like  soiling  dirt.  Here 
holiness  is  shown  by  punctilious  separation  from 
all  possible  contagion  of  the  evil.  The  initial 
intent  of  the  Pharisee  was  good ;  but  his  position 
involved  plain  dangers :  assuming  that  oneself  is 
right  and  superior  to  others ;  a  total  lack  of  appre- 
ciation and  of  sympathy  with  others  and  willing- 
ness truly  to  do  for  them  ;  and  consequent  failure 
in  love,  and  failure  to  see  that  only  this  positive 
love  really  counts,  or  can  be  any  adequate  defense 
against  evil.  Holiness  becomes  here  exclusiveness, 
separation  from  the  contamination  of  death. 

From  Jesus*  point  of  view,  it  is  rather  true  that 
holiness  is  wholeness,  health,  and  its  contagion  of 
life.     He  believes  that  health  is  more  contagious 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     1 63 

than  disease,  and  righteousness  than  evil,  and  that 
the  great  protection  against  evil  is  abounding  love 
and  righteousness,  just  as  the  great  protection 
against  disease  is  abounding  health.  From  this 
point  of  view,  therefore,  the  saint  must  bring  his 
touch  of  life ;  he  cannot  be  allowed  to  shut  himself 
off  from  the  rest  of  men ;  and  the  only  way  to 
promote  holiness  among  men  is  for  the  whole  life, 
the  healthy  life,  the  life  of  God,  to  be  brought  into 
touch  with  the  imperfect,  the  diseased,  and  the 
sinful.  This  view  assumes  that  holiness  or  love, 
not  evil,  is  the  great  positive  force,  and  is  itself 
the  only  true  defense  against  evil.  HoHness,  for 
Jesus,  is  God's  life ;  and  that  life,  Jesus  is  ever  show- 
ing—  and  here  especially  —  is  love,  the  tender, 
gracious,  tireless,  seeking  love  of  God.  For  Christ, 
therefore,  we  come  into  holiness  in  just  the  pro- 
portion in  which  we  share  that  sympathy  and  love 
of  God  in  our  relation  to  others. 

All  the  three  parables,  thus,  of  the  chapter,  —  jesus' 
the  parables  of  the  lost  sheep,  the  lost  coin,  and  ^pp^^^  "^ 
the  lost  son,  are  ( i )  a  direct  answer  to  the  Phari-  parables, 
saic  criticism  by  (2)  revealing  the  love  of  God  in 
an  appeal  to  their  own  feehng  and  reason,  and  (3) 
so  showing  that  the  only  attitude  for  men  to  take 
is  not  the  attitude  of  Pharisaic  exclusiveness,  but 
the  same  longing,  seeking  love  which  God  has  for 
all  his  children.     Jesus  seeks  to  stir  the  pity  and 
love  even  of  the  Pharisees  in  appeal  to  their  own 
experience,  and  so  to  help  them  to  see  the  inevi- 
tableness  of  his  own  course  with  the  publicans  and 


164  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

sinners.  This  is  the  force  of  the  appeal  in  the  4th 
verse,  for  example,  "What  man  of  you.'"  (4)  It 
should  be  noticed,  thus,  that  Jesus  is  drawing  ten- 
derly near  to  both  classes  in  the  appeal  of  these 
parables.  The  Pharisees,  too,  are  among  the  most 
needy  of  God's  sons,  whom  also  the  Father  seeks, 
whom,  therefore,  Jesus  must  earnestly  strive  to 
win,  even  though  they  may  be  less  responsive 
than  the  so-called  "sinners."  And  the  appeal  to 
the  elder  son,  in  verse  31,  —  "  child  "  — is  a  direct 
and  tender  appeal  to  the  Pharisees. 

These  three  simple,  appealing  stories,  thus,  of 
the  lost   sheep,  the  lost   coin,  and   the   lost   son, 
break  forth,  as  inevitably,  from  the  heart  and  lips 
of  Christ. 
The  cloth-  The  parables  are  so  simple  and  direct  that  their 

p£a°bies^^  clothing  requires  no  special  attention;  and  the 
great  outstanding  truths  of  all  three  are  so  much 
the  same,  that  the  parables  need  not  be  treated 
separately.  I  see  nothing  to  confirm  the  reason- 
ableness of  Pfleiderer's  theory  that  the  story  of 
the  elder  brother,  in  the  parable  of  the  prodigal 
son,  does  not  belong  to  Jesus'  original  utterance. 
In  fact,  it  fits  exactly  into  the  general  circum- 
stances in  which  Jesus  found  himself,  and  is  a  di- 
rect and  powerful  part  of  Jesus*  answer  to  the 
Pharisees'  common  complaint.  It  is  wholly  worthy 
of  the  rest  of  the  parable.  Jesus'  thought,  indeed, 
would  be  incomplete  without  it. 

I  am,  of  course,  not  forgetting  that  the  primary 
significance  of  these  parables  is  religious,  in  setting 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     1 65 

forth  the   gracious   and   tireless   seeking   love   of  Ethical 
God ;  but  nevertheless,  the  parables  cannot  be  left  l^^)^^^ '° 
out  of  account  in  any  adequate  setting  forth  of  the  form. 
ethical  teaching  of  Jesus  either,  because  this  spirit 
which  is  here  ascribed  to  God  must,  of  course,  be 
at  the  same  time  a  picture  of  the  ideal  attitude  that 
Jesus  must   demand   from  every  man.    They  be- 
long, therefore,  to   the   very  heart  of  his  ethical 
teaching,  as  well  as  constitute  the   center   of  his 
"  good  tidings  of  God."     We  shall  therefore  prob- 
ably best  get  at  the  ethical  implications   by  stat- 
ing first  simply  the  teaching  of  the  parable  in  its 
plain,  primary  religious  significance. 

The  great  outstanding  truths  of  the  parables  of  The 
Luke  15,  then,  may  be  said  to  be  these  :—  Ihe'^pa'Sb/es. 

( I )  God  is  not  a  taskmaster  or  legal  accountant^  God  no 
with  a  set  of  arbitrary  rules  and  laws  to  judge  you  ^^kmaster. 
by  or  reward  you  for,  without  pity  or  mercy  or 
love,  as  the  Pharisees  conceived,  and  many  others 
still  conceive.  One  needs  to  get  thoroughly  rid 
of  this  blasphemous  and  untrue  idea  of  God. 
God's  severity  is  the  fidelity  of  love,  that  would 
hold  a  child  to  the  Hues  of  his  largest  life,  and 
that  only,  —  that  would  bring  him  back  to  himself, 
to  life  and  to  God.  It  is  impossible  to  fit  the  Phari- 
saic attitude  toward  sinning,  needy  men  into  the 
character  of  God.  Each  of  the  three  parables  em- 
phatically denies  this  possibility.  Try  to  conceive 
the  possibility  :  "  The  valued  sheep  is  lost ;  curse 
it  and  let  it  go.  The  cherished  coin  of  the  per- 
sonal treasure  dowry  is  gone ;  make  no  attempt  to 


1 66  THE  ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

find  it ;  forget  it  and  let  it  go.  The  son  has  gone 
out  from  the  father's  house  to  a  life  away  from  all 
sympathy  with  the  father ;  he  richly  deserves  his 
swine-feeding  fate ;  curse  him  and  forget  him." 
The  parables  show  that  Jesus  knows  no  such  God. 
As  over  against  every  such  attitude  toward  sinning 
men,  he  appeals  even  to  men's  own  more  merciful 
attitude  toward  sheep. 
God  cares.  (2)   God  caves.     Jesus  is  insisting  upon  the  fact 

that  God  cares,  as  over  against  the  hopeless,  deso- 
late, desperate  feeling  that  sometimes  comes,  that 
**  nobody  cares  what  becomes  of  me."  God  cares ; 
heaven  is  interested.  This  is  the  reiterated  insist- 
ence of  the  parables  (vv.  7,  10,  22,  32).  Those  in- 
telligences, in  closest  sympathy  with  God,  seeing 
values  most  clearly  and  surely,  care.  After  all, 
what  is  so  great  as  a  man }  What  value  is  to  be 
reckoned  for  him }  An  animal  one  may  come  to 
care  greatly  for,  a  coin  to  prize ;  but  what  shall 
make  good  the  lost  son.?  Distance,  separation, 
death,  diminished  strength  or  health  or  opportu- 
nity of  a  child,  —  all  these  may  be  causes  for  sor- 
row. But  what  comparison  do  any  or  all  of  them 
bear  to  the  single  fact  that  a  child  has  turned  his 
back  on  righteousness  and  life  and  God }  As 
surely  and  as  deeply  as  you  know  even  the  human 
heart  at  its  best  (v.  4),  you  may  know  that  God 
cares  for  this  child  of  his,  of  infinite  possibilities, 
but  now  gone  wrong.  Even  the  shepherd  cares 
for  the  sheep,  the  woman  for  the  lost  coin,  the 
human  father  for  the  rebellious,  willful  son ;  "  how 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     16/ 

much  more  "  God  cares !  This  is  the  simple,  in- 
evitable truth  to  the  mind  of  Jesus.  "  You  are  a 
child  of  God,"  Jesus  is  here  repeatedly  asserting. 
He  cares.  You  are  "  missed "  at  home.  The 
other  sheep  are  in  the  fold ;  the  rest  of  the  pre- 
cious string  of  coins  are  in  the  hand ;  the  other 
children  are  at  home.  But  you  are  away,  and  you 
are  missed,  sorely  missed ;  and  no  joy  is  complete, 
nay,  all  joy  is  tinged  with  sadness,  for  you  are 
missed. 

(3)  All  these  parables  make  not  less  clear  that,  The  seeking 
just  because  God  cares,  he  seeks  metiy  and  rejoices  ^^'^^  °^  ^*'**- 
in  the  return  of  men  to  himself.  So  Erskine  can 
say :  **  What  is  Christianity }  It  is  the  beHef  in 
the  inexhaustible  love  of  God  for  man.  He  came 
to  seek  that  which  is  lost,  until  he  find  it."^  This 
seeking  and  rejoicing  love  of  God  is  so  clearly  in- 
volved in  the  previous  thought  that  God  cares, 
that  it  hardly  needs  to  be  dwelt  upon.  Numerous 
details  in  the  parables  bring  out  both  the  tireless 
seeking  and  the  great  joy  in  the  return,  with  its 
contrasted  implied  grief  in  the  wandering.  Jesus' 
contention  seems  to  be  that  we  have  a  right  to 
believe  that  God  does  bear  witness  to  himself  in 
the  glad  sacrificial  longings,  seekings,  and  suffer- 
ings of  the  best  human  love.  Is  he  not  himself  so 
speaking  in  us }  Contrast  with  Jesus'  saying  con- 
cerning the  "joy  in  heaven"  the  awful  saying  of 
the  Pharisees  quoted  by  Plummer,  "There  is  joy 

1  Quoted  by  Moffatt,  Literary  Illustrations  of  the  Bible :   St. 
Lukey  p.  105. 


for  God. 


1 68  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

before  God  when  those  who  provoke  him  perish 
from  the  world."  Here  is  no  least  sense  of  men  as 
children  of  God. 
Man  made  (4)  In  particular,  the  parables  mean  th3.t  man  is 
made  for  God  and  for  the  life  with  God.  Going 
away  from  God,  to  Christ's  thought,  is  going  into 
"  a  far  country,"  not  native  to  us,  where  desolation 
is  certain.  With  God  is  the  source  of  all  life  and 
light  and  joy,  because  he  is  the  source  of  all  love. 
With  him,  therefore,  and  in  the  sharing  of  his 
great  purposes  and  ends,  alone  is  life.  And  all 
this  means  that  man  only  "  comes  to  himself " 
when  he  comes  back  to  God.  That  is  finding  one- 
self, coming  home,  coming  into  life.  This  is 
Christ's  conception  of  the  very  meaning  of  re- 
ligion, —  that  it  is  life,  the  sharing  of  God's  own 
life. 

The  un-  (5)  And  the  latter  part  of  the  parable  of  the 

sDiri?  prodigal  son  has  its  own  insistent  lesson  :  one  may 

as  really  go  away  from  the  Father  by  the  way  of 
the  Uftloving  spirit,  as  by  the  way  of  appetite  and 
passion.  The  parable  in  truth  ought  to  be  called 
the  parable  of  the  two  lost  sons. 

In  each  case  the  sin  lies  in  the  refusal  to  take 
the  father's  attitude  and  will,  —  to  live  the  unself- 
ish, truly  loving  life  of  God.  The  son  who  has 
no  joy  in  a  brother  brought  back  to  real  sonship, 
brought  out  of  sin  back  to  the  father  and  to  life 
with  the  father,  is  himself  no  true  son  of  the 
father.  His  unloving  spirit  is  as  far  from  the 
father's    heart    as    is   "  the    far    country "    from 


spint. 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     1 69 

the  father's  house.  This  is  distance  from  God. 
The  father,  therefore,  in  his  love  for  the  elder 
son,  and  his  desire  to  win  him,  too,  entreats  (v.  28), 
tenderly  expostulates  (v.  31),  sorrowfully  rebukes 
(v.  32). 

The  "elder  son"  represents  the  very  spirit  in 
the  Pharisees  which  Jesus  set  out  to  rebuke,  and 
out  of  which  he  was  trying  to  win  them.  And 
yet  how  readily  we  still  see  the  sin  of  the  younger 
son  as  compared  with  the  sin  of  the  elder,  who  yet 
has  no  real  love  (this  is  the  real  point  of  all  the 
parables),  who  cannot  conceive  or  enter  into  the 
father's  feeling  toward  either  the  sinning  or  the  re- 
pentant son,  or  into  the  father's  joy  over  his  boy's 
return  in  his  right  mind,  who  is  not  able  even  to 
take  the  part  of  neighbors  rejoicing  over  a  sheep 
found. 

(6)  To  be  "lost,"  this  parable  indicates,  is  to  be  Being  lost 
lost  away  from  God.  As  Emerson  says,  "  Profli-  ^^^  ^°°^ 
gacy  consists  not  in  spending  years  of  time  or 
chests  of  money,  but  in  spending  them  off  the  line 
of  your  career^  In  like  manner,  to  be  "lost,"  is 
to  be  lost  off  the  line  of  God's  own  will  for  us,  lost 
away  from  home,  and  from  the  Father's  presence 
and  from  the  loving  spirit  of  his  life.  To  be 
"saved,"  on  the  other  hand,  is,  once  more,  the 
simple  sharing  in  the  Father's  life  and  in  his  love 
for  men.  There  is  no  other  way  than  these  of 
being  either  "  lost "  or  "  saved." 

I  have  ventured,  thus,  to  express  somewhat 
fully  the  plain  religious  teaching  of  Jesus  in  these 


parables. 


170  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

The  parables  of  the  lost  sheep,  the  lost  coin,  and  the 

teachin  ^^^^  ^^^'  ^ecausc  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  only  so 

of  these  could  the  full  significance  of  their  ethical  teaching 

be  best  brought  out.  (i)  If,  in  the  thought  of 
Jesus,  God  may  not  take  the  attitude  of  task- 
master, or  legal  accountant,  still  less  may  man  in 
his  relation  to  his  fellowman.  (2)  If  it  must  be 
required  even  of  God  that  he  should  care  un- 
ceasingly for  every  man,  not  less  must  be  asked 
from  men  in  their  relation  to  each  other.  The 
ethics  of  Jesus  requires  that  the  good  of  no  man  ♦ 
shall  be  to  us  an  alien  thing  ;  that  his  loss  to  right- 
eousness and  good  and  happiness  and  life  shall 
be  to  us  no  indifferent  thing.  (3)  And  not  less 
clearly  the  teaching  of  these  parables  shows  that 
even  the  ethics  of  Jesus  must  demand  that  a  life 
that  he  can  think  of  as  at  all  ideal  must  have  the 
positive  seeking^  quality  in  it,  and  the  great  joy  in 
the  coming  of  any  man  to  himself,  in  his  coming 
back  into  the  true  life.  (4)  And  the  religious 
proposition  that  man  is  made  for  God  and  for  the 
life  with  God  has  an  ethical  meaning  that  cannot 
be  spared.  It  is,  once  more,  the  conviction  which 
must  underlie  all  our  moral  struggle  and  all  our 
social  endeavor,  that  man  is  a  fundamentally  ethi- 
cal being  and  cannot  come  into  largest  life  apart 
from  the  fulfillment  of  his  ethical  ideals,  that  he 
never  truly  comes  to  himself  until  he  takes  on  all 
to  which  the  moral  laws  of  his  being  call  him. 
(5)  And  the  ethical  lesson  of  the  latter  part  of 
the  parable  of  the  lost  son  is  not  less  unmistakable 


all  institu- 
tions. 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     I /I 

and  not  to  be  spared.  It  expresses  Jesus'  clear 
insight,  that  one  may  fail  in  the  truly  ethical  life 
quite  as  certainly  by  way  of  hard  lack  of  sympathy 
as  by  way  of  appetite  and  passion.  This  is  only 
another  inevitable  inference  from  Jesus'  funda- 
mental notion  of  life  as  love. 

With  the  teaching  of  these  parables  is  to  be  con- 
nected immediately  Jesus'  saying  in  his  words  to 
Zacchaeus,  **  For  the  Son  of  man  came  to  seek  and 
to  save  that  which  was  lost"  (19 :  10). 

With  these  parables  of  grace  may  be  associated  Love  above 
three  of  the  shorter  sayings  of  Jesus  peculiar  to 
Luke.  The  first  illustrates,  again,  that  sense  of 
the  supremacy  of  love  above  all  institutions,  and 
that  conviction  that  even  the  highest  of  these  in- 
stitutions, the  Sabbath,  "  is  made  for  man,  and  not 
man  for  the  sabbath "  (which  we  have  already 
seen  reflected  in  the  doubly  attested  sayings,  and 
in  Mark) :  "  Ye  hypocrites,  doth  not  each  one  of 
you  on  the  sabbath  loose  his  ox  or  his  ass  from  the 
stall,  and  lead  him  away  to  watering  ?  And  ought 
not  this  woman,  being  a  daughter  of  Abraham, 
whom  Satan  had  bound,  lo,  these  eighteen  years, 
to  have  been  loosed  from  this  bond  on  the  day  of 
the  sabbath.?"  (13:15-16;  cf.  also  14:5).  The 
indignation  Jesus  here  feels  is  at  the  purely  legal 
spirit  which  his  objectors  show,  the  total  deadness 
to  the  work  of  mercy.  Christ  argues  here  in  act, 
as  well  as  in  word,  once  again,  that  even  the  high- 
est of  all  observances  and  institutions  have  their 
sole  right  to  exist  on  their  ground  of  service  to 


1/2  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

men,  for  love's  sake  only;  they  may  never  stand 
in  the  way  of  the  service  of  love. 
Need,  not  The   same   spirit  of   really  unselfish   service  is 

SeTidT'    ui-ged  in  the  brief  paragraph  (14:  12-14),  "When 
of  love.  thou   makest  a  dinner  or   a  supper,  call  not  thy 

friends,  nor  thy  brethren,  nor  thy  kinsmen,  nor 
rich  neighbors ;  lest  haply  they  also  bid  thee  again, 
and  a  recompense  be  made  thee,"  etc.  The  prin- 
ciple underlying  this  whole  exhortation  seems 
clearly  to  be,  Give  yourself  and  your  service  where 
they  are  needed,  and  not  for  "recompense." 
Need,  not  recompense,  is  constantly  to  guide  the 
loving  life.  Jesus  is  not  laying  down,  I  suppose, 
a  social  rule,  but  he  is  declaring  a  great  principle, 
and  going  back  to  the  heart  of  the  matter.  He  is 
virtually  asking  those  to  whom  he  speaks  to  deter- 
mine their  controlling  motive  :  Do  you  really  mean 
to  serve  in  love's  name  ?  And  will  you  serve  with 
genuine  unselfishness,  not  for  recompense,  but  in 
answer  to  need  ?  Some  of  the  neediest  may,  in 
truth,  be  among  the  rich  and  the  near  of  kin ;  they 
may  need  deeply  your  expressed  friendship  and 
the  touch  of  other  friendly  lives.  On  the  other 
hand,  some  commonly  counted  needy  might  resent 
the  formal  social  invitation  as  patronizing.  In 
that  case  you  must  find  some  other  way  of  giving 
yourself  to  them  that  will  show  plain  respect  for 
them.  The  principle  is  that  an  unselfish  love  must 
guide  in  social  life,  as  everywhere  else.  Is  there 
any  doubt  that  this  principle  of  Jesus  would  not 
only  greatly  simplify  society  life,  but  make  it  vastly 
better  worth  while  ? 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     1 73 

The  words  of  grace  which  this  peculiar  material  Forgiving 
in  Luke  puts  in  the  mouth  of  Jesus  may  fittingly  ^°^^- 
be  concluded  with  the  prayer  on  the  cross  and  its 
far  reach  of  understanding,  forgiving  love,  "  Father, 
forgive  them;  for  they  know  not  what  they  do." 
Doubtless  it  is  no  intended  teaching;  but  it  ex- 
presses in  his  own  life  the  spirit  that,  beyond  ques- 
tion, he  believed  should  characterize  every  disciple 
of  the  true  life.  Even  as  he  could  not  conceive 
that  God  should  fail  in  forgiving  love,  so  he  may 
not  admit  that  love  has  reached  its  fulfillment  in 
men  until  it  can  voice  itself  in  even  such  a  prayer 
as  this. 

2.   When  we  turn  from  this  gracious  aspect  of  The  aspect 
the  teaching  of   Jesus  to  the  aspect  of  judgment  of  judgment 

,         ,        "^  y  y  y      «b  and  warning. 

and  warning,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  we  have 
already  seen,  in  the  survey  of  the  entire  teaching 
of  Jesus  as  set  forth  in  Luke,  that  his  whole  central 
section,  chapters  11  to  16,  can  well  be  considered 
as  warning  against  the  Pharisaic  spirit  in  its  vari- 
ous manifestations.  Here  belong  the  parable  of 
the  rich  fool,  with  its  warning  against  selfish  en- 
grossment in  things  (12:14-21);  the  incident  of 
the  Galileans  and  the  tower  of  Siloam,  with  its 
warning  against  uncharitable  judgment  on  account 
of  calamities,  and  against  forgetting  the  absolute 
need  of  life  in  the  individual  (13  :  1-5);  the  par- 
able of  the  barren  fig  tree,  with  its  warning  against 
fruitlessness,  mere  harmlessness  of  life  (13:6-9); 
the  parable  of  the  chief  seats,  with  its  warning 
against  self -exaltation  (14:7-11);  the  parables  of 


174  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

the  rash  builder  and  the  rash  king,  with  their  de- 
mand that  one  should  count  the  cost  of  discipleship 
(14  :  28-33),  with  which  are  to  be  taken  the  saying 
as  to  putting  one's  hand  to  the  plow  (9 :  62),  and 
the  appHcation  of  the  same  principle  to  his  own 
life,  "  I  came  to  cast  fire  upon  the  earth,"  etc. 
(12:49-50);  the  parable  of  the  unrighteous 
steward  (16: 1-13),  with  its  demand  for  foresight 
in  the  spiritual  life,  and  for  the  true  use  of  riches, 
and  that  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus  (16:  19-31), 
with  its  insistence  on  the  inevitable  consequences 
of  the  abuse  of  riches ;  the  parable  of  extra  service 
(17:  7-10),  with  its  demand  upon  the  disciple  of 
the  true  life  for  patient  readiness  for  the  most 
exacting  service ;  and  the  parable  of  the  Pharisee 
and  the  publican,  with  its  rebuke  of  self-complacent 
pride  and  its  exaltation  of  humble  penitence. 
The  parable  In  the  parable  of  the  rich  fool,  with  the  introduc- 
tory incident  of  the  avaricious  brother,  Jesus  is  not 
only  warning  against  the  spirit  of  covetousness, 
but  giving  the  motives  which  may  be  used  against 
this  spirit.  Jesus  sums  up  his  entire  argument 
against  the  covetous  life  in  the  sentence,  "A 
man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the 
things  which  he  possesseth."  The  motives  against 
covetousness  in  this  paragraph  of  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  may  be  thus  summarized :  (i)  life  lies  not  in 
things  (v.  15) ;  (2)  put  the  growth  of  the  self  over 
against  the  growth  of  things  (vv.  19-20);  (3)  re- 
member the  danger  of  the  benumbing  effects  of 
material  prosperity  (w.  17-19);  (4)  merely  mate- 


of  the  rich 
fool 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     1/5 

rial  aims  shut  out  all  really  great  ambitions ;  one 
can,  then,  only  "build  greater"  barns,  and  mul- 
tiply things,  instead  of  building  a  greater  life,  and 
multiplying  interests  in  common  with  the  Kingdom 
of  God  (vv.  18-21);  (5)  and  the  covetous  life 
means  inevitable,  irretrievable  defeat  in  the  end; 
it  is  not  "  rich  toward  God " ;  there  is  no  shar- 
ing of  the  eternal  purposes  anJ  life  of  God 
(v.  21). 

The  parable  of  the  watchful  servants  (12  :  35-48),  The  parable 
while  only  a  part  of  it  peculiar  to  Luke,  does  mass  °^  ^,^,  , 

.  .  1  .        ..r  ,  .    M  watchful 

the  motives  against  the  ungirt  life  and  to  vigilant  servants, 
watchfulness  as  no  other  single  connected  passage 
in  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  and  may  properly,  there- 
fore, find  connected  treatment  at  this  point.  Jesus 
seems  to  think  of  the  Pharisaic  spirit  as  having 
crept  in  through  failure  to  be  true  to  the  light  al- 
ready given,  and  so  smothering  further  light.  In 
the  words  of  Professor  Peabody,  "  Spiritual  insen- 
sibility is  not  an  intellectual,  but  a  moral  defect  — 
the  sheer  indolence  and  satiety  of  a  loose  and 
ungirt  habit  of  life."  Moral  blindness  (vv.  54-59) 
and  inability  to  face  the  stern  crises  (vv.  49-53) 
are  the  natural  result  of  the  ungirt,  indolent  life 
(vv.  35-48).  Vigilant  watchfulness,  therefore,  is  ^ 
the  price  of  all  attainment.  Lack  of  watchfulness, 
in  Christ's  thought,  belongs,  thus,  among  the  great 
enemies  of  life ;  and  in  this  passage  he  brings  the 
following  motives  to  bear :  — 

( I )  Every  man  is  a  servant  put  in  trust  with  life 
and  capacities.     This  calls  for  the  vigilant  alert- 


176  THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

ness  of  servants  momentarily  expecting  their  lord's 
return  (vv.  35-36). 

(2)  Our  watchful  fidelity  has  the  great  reward 
of  the  approval  of  our  Lord^  and  of  his  own  giving 
of  himself  in  larger  measure  to  us.  God  does  not 
forget  untarnished  fidelity  to  great  trusts  under 
trial.     Our  very  life  is  blessed  thereby  (v.  37). 

(3)  The  greater  the  trial  in  which  one  is  true, 
the  greater  the  honor  of  the  life  (v.  38). 

(4)  Neglect  and  negligence  are  never  safe.  There 
is  no  good  or  safe  time  to  fall  below  one's  best. 
"  Be  ye  also  ready  "  (vv.  39-40). 

(5)  The  motive  of  trust  for  others y  as  well  as 
for  oneself  (for  in  verses  41-48  Jesus  seems  to 
be  speaking  to  the  disciples  as  leaders).  The 
higher  the  calling,  the  greater  the  trust  and  the 
need  of  watchfulness.  The  leader  can  least  of  all 
afford  the  ungirt  life.  He  must  be  worthy,  and 
more  than  worthy,  of  his  best  associates ;  and 
every  man  needs  for  his  own  upgirding  the 
thought  that  if  he  fails,  he  imperils  not  himself 
alone  but  many  others;  if  he  conquers,  he  wins 
not  for  himself  alone,  but  adds  strength  to  other 
lives  also  (vv.  41-43). 

(6)  Fidelity  means  still  larger  trusts ,  ever  larger 
opportunities  crowding  in  on  the  life.  Not  only, 
then,  because  of  the  trusts  already  given,  but  also 
for  the  sake  of  the  vastly  larger  trusts  in  store, 
that  are  jeopardized  by  every  lack  of  watchfulness, 
one  is  to  be  faithful  (v.  44). 

(7)  Resist  the   subtle  temptation  which   urges 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     I// 

that  the  fact  of  the  high  place  of  service,  already 
won,  allows  laxness  and  use  of  the  intrusted 
power  for  selfish  tyranny.  Be  doubly  on  your 
guard  against  the  beguilements  of  your  own  success 
(v.  45).  Success  and  power  are  sterner  triers  of 
the  souls  of  men  than  hardship  and  defeat.  The 
fatal  series  too  often  is  this :  a  Httle  success,  con- 
sequent laxness,  laziness,  easy  self-indulgence, 
excusing  oneself  from  hard  things,  tyranny  over 
others,  failure  to  grow,  degeneration,  and  defeat. 

(8)  The  certain  and  inevitable  penalty  of  abuse 
of  trust  is  to  be  borne  in  mind.  One  cannot  play 
false  and  have  the  reward  of  honest  fidelity.  His 
building  is  false ;  in  some  hour  of  stress  it  will 
tumble  about  his  ears.  Literally  "his  portion  is 
with  the  unfaithful"  (v.  46). 

(9)  Judgment  is  according  to  light.  Where 
much  is  given,  as  to  the  favored  and  to  leaders, 
there  much  shall  be  required.  Your  greater  trust 
requires  not  less  but  greater  watchfulness,  not  less 
but  greater  fidelity  (w.  47-48). 

These   motives   against    the   ungirt   life,    while  These 
there   clearly  underUes   them  all   in  the  mind    of  "f^^l^^ 
Jesus  religious  conviction,  are  still  all,  at  the  same  mentally 
time,  capable  of  definite  ethical  interpretation,  and  ^^  ^^^ ' 
belong,  thus,  clearly  enough  to  his  distinct  ethical 
teaching.     For  ethical  should  certainly  bring  out 
the  motives  to  conduct. 

The  story  of  the  Galileans,  whose  blood  Pilate  Luke 
had   mingled  with   their   sacrifices,  and   of   those   ^^  *  ^~^' 
upon  whom  the  tower  in  Siloam  fell,  with  Jesus' 


1/8  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

question,  "  Think  ye  that  these  were  sinners  above 
all?"  and  his  answer — "I  tell  you,  Nay,  but  ex- 
cept ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  in  like  manner  perish," 
— is  a  plain  double  warning,  first,  against  unchar- 
itable judgment  of  others  on  account  of  calamities 
that  have  come  to  them;  and,  second,  and  at  the 
same  time,  a  warning  against  forgetting  the  abso- 
lute need  of  life  in  oneself.  No  hiding  behind 
another's  sin  can  be  of  the  slightest  value.  The 
clear  impHcation  of  Jesus'  teaching  here  is,  once 
more,  that  of  the  necessity  of  the  inward  life ;  life 
comes  only  from  life ;  one  is  to  see  to  it  that  the 
seed  of  life  is  in  himself.  Nothing  is  accomplished 
except  one  repent,  —  get  a  new  mind. 
The  parable  The  parable  of  the  barren  fig  tree  (13:6-9), 
birren  fig  which  immediately  follows  in  Luke's  presentation, 
tree.  is  plain  warning  against  fruitlessness,  mere  harm- 

lessness  of  life.  It  is  another  revelation  of  Jesus* 
constant  sense  of  the  seriousness  of  life,  of  the 
earnestness  of  living.  In  Martineau's  words, 
"The  severe  prerogatives  of  an  existence  half 
divine  are  ours,  to  wear  away  life  in  unproductive 
harmlessness  is  innocent  no  more."  The  fruitless 
life  is  not  only  itself  useless,  but  cumbers  ground 
that  might  nourish  a  fruitful  life.  The  positive 
note  is,  thus,  found  unmistakably  in  this  bit  of 
the  teaching  of  Jesus.  He  can  find  no  satisfac- 
tion in  a  merely  negative  righteousness.  The  life 
must  be  positively  fruitful. 

The  lesson  of   the  parable   of  the   chief   seats 
(14 :  7-1 1),  "  When  thou  art  bidden  of  any  man  to  a 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     1 79 

marriage  feast,  sit  not  down  in  the  chief  seat,"  etc.,  The 
Jesus   himself   sums  up   in   the   sentence,    "  For    ^f  ^^^6**°° 
every  one  that  exalteth  himself  shall  be  humbled  ;  humble, 
and  he  that  humble th  himself  shall  be  exalted  " 
(v.  ii).     We   may  be   sure   there   is   no   exhorta- 
tion  here    to    a    shrewd,    diplomatic    pride    that 
poses   as   humility,  in  order  that   it   may   be  ex- 
alted;  for   nothing  is   so  clear  to  Jesus   as   that 
there  is  no   getting  the  real  reward  of  character 
without   character.     Jesus  speaks,    thus,    of  real 
humility,  and  of  real  exaltation.     No  mere  playing 
the  part  of  the  humble  can  secure  real  exaltation. 

This  lesson  of  the  exaltation  of  the  humble  is 
also  the  lesson  in  Luke's  presentation  of  the  par- 
able of  the  Pharisee  and  the  publican,  and  the 
lesson  there  is  less  liable  to  perversion  than  in  this 
more  external  parable  of  the  chief  seats  at  dinner. 
For  in  the  parable  of  the  Pharisee  and  the  publican, 
it  is  unmistakably  clear  that  it  is  no  outward  con- 
duct, in  any  case,  that  Jesus  has  in  mind,  but  the 
contrast  between  self-complacent  pride  and  the 
humility  of  a  genuine  penitence.  And  as  certainly 
as  Jesus  knows  that  the  one  spirit  shuts  out  all 
possibility  of  growth  and  of  reception  of  good  from 
either  God  or  men,  so  surely,  on  the  other  hand,  he 
knows  that  the  spirit  of  penitent  humility  is  the  very 
seed  of  all  growth,  of  all  achievement,  of  all  real 
exaltation.  The  really  humble^  he  insists,  shall  be 
really  exalted.  We  may  be  sure  that  the  teaching 
of  the  two  parables  is  practically  identical.  The 
truly  humble  soul,  deeply  dependent  on  God  and 


the  cost. 


1 80  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

open-minded  toward  men  is  taking  the  road  of 
steady,  inevitable  growth  in  all  that  is  best,  is  thus 
himself  becoming  steadily,  inevitably  larger  and 
better ;  and  hence  is  really  "  exalted "  whether 
men  know  it  or  not.  And  even  the  tribute  of  men 
to  real  worth  is  pretty  certain  to  come;  for  the 
world  needs,  as  it  needs  nothing  else,  real  worth. 
The  true  measure,  thus,  and  the  true  exaltation  of 
a  man  is  not  sitting  in  the  chief  seats,  but  worthi- 
ness to  sit  in  them. 
Counting  The  two  parables   of   the   rash   builder  and  of 

the  rash  king  (14:28-33),  with  their  exhorta- 
tion to  the  counting  of  the  cost,  and  Jesus' 
comment  —  "  So  therefore  whosoever  he  be  of 
you  that  renounceth  not  all  that  he  hath,  he 
cannot  be  my  disciple  "  —  express,  upon  Jesus* 
part,  the  double  conviction  that  there  can  be  no 
discipleship  of  the  true  life  that  is  not  willing  to 
count  the  full  cost  to  the  end,  and  that  is  not  will- 
ing to  renounce  all  claims  on  self.  It  is,  thus,  as 
though  Jesus  here  said,  Make  no  mistake  as  to 
what  the  demands  of  the  true  life  mean;  let 
there  be  no  bUnding  of  the  eyes  to  the  real  mean- 
ing of  the  call ;  be  ready  for  it  all.  Say  with  the 
glad  abandon  of  a  soldier  in  a  great  cause,  of 
the  undaunted  seeker  after  truth,  of  the  true 
lover,  No  call  that  can  be  made  upon  me  can 
surpass  my  willingness  to  give  (vv.  28-32).  And 
this  counting  of  the  cost  to  the  end  means  the 
renunciation  of  the  selfish  self,  holding  all  one's 
powers  at  the  bidding  of  truth  and  righteousness, 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     l8l 

like  a  soldier,  like  a  friend.  This  devotedness  of 
life  calls  for  no  mere  giving  up  of  things,  but  the 
giving  up  of  the  selfish  will,  the  giving  up  of  the 
selfish  self  (v.  33).  No  man  can  be  even  a  true 
friend,  who  is  not  willing  to  give  himself  in  the 
friendship,  and  this  giving  of  the  self  is  all  that 
gives  the  highest  value  to  the  gift  of  other  things. 

Of  the  same  import  is  that  other  saying  of  The  heroic 
Jesus,  peculiar  to  Luke,  —  "  No  man,  having  put  ^^^^  °^  ^^^^^' 
his  hand  to  the  plow,  and  looking  back,  is  fit  for 
the  kingdom  of  God."  (9:62).  All  who  were  to 
follow  him  in  the  life  of  truth  and  righteousness 
and  self-sacrificing  love,  were  to  count  the  cost. 
Real  kindness  itself  demanded  that  there  should 
be  no  coaxing  with  sugar  plums ;  they  were  to 
understand  how  serious  was  the  demand  that  he 
made  upon  them,  how  great  the  struggle  to  be 
made,  how  dead  in  earnest  the  men  who  would 
share  in  it  must  be.  It  is  a  part  of  Jesus'  great 
belief  in  men  that  he  does  not  hesitate  to  make 
these  strenuously  heroic  calls  and  still  expects  men 
to  heed  and  answer.  There  can  be  no  halfway 
measures,  he  insists,  in  the  moral  life.  This  is 
also  a  part  of  his  conviction  of  the  inevitable 
unity  of  the  spiritual  life  that  we  shall  later  see 
coming  out  so  clearly  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

I  cannot  help  thinking  that  we  have  the  same  Girding 
thought  applied  by  Jesus  to  himself  in  the  saying,   ^°^  ^"^^^' 
"  I    came  to  cast   fire  upon  the  earth ;  and  what 
do  I  desire,  if  it  is  already  kindled  ?     But  I  have 
a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with ;    and   how  am   I 


1 82 


THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 


No  flinch- 
ing from 
exacting 
service. 


Winning 
one's  soul 
in  patience. 


Straightened  till  it  be  accomplished  !  "  (12  :  49-50). 
Jesus  clearly  sees  the  stern  crisis  that  awaits  him, 
and  he  already  girds  himself  for  it.  And  to  a  spirit 
like  this  he  urges  every  true  man. 

Precisely  akin  is  the  parable  of  extra  service 
(17  :  7-10).  In  this,  as  in  any  parable,  the  details 
are  not  to  be  pressed.  Jesus  is  using  this  com- 
parison with  a  human  master  and  servant  to  bring 
out  the  single  point  which  alone  is  to  be  insisted 
upon,  —  that  in  the  disciple  of  the  righteous  life 
there  must  be  always  patient  readiness  for  the 
most  exacting  service.  The  parable,  thus,  is  in- 
tended to  suggest  the  spirit  which  is  required  in 
the  man  who  means  to  live  in  thoroughgoing 
fashion  the  ethical  life  :  he  must  humbly  admit 
that,  in  any  case,  he  is  only  fulfilling  his  duty  and 
cannot  claim  to  be  bringing  anything  beyond  what 
that  duty  requires  (v.  10). 

With  this  parable  of  extra  service,  and  its  demand 
for  patient  readiness  for  the  most  exacting  call, 
may  be  coupled  the  brief  sentence,  peculiar  to 
Luke,  in  the  eschatological  discourse,  "  In  your 
patience  ye  shall  win  your  souls"  (21  :  19).  For 
this  pregnant  saying  seems  to  have  application 
quite  beyond  the  crisis  days  of  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  and  to  suggest  the  vigilant  and  stead- 
fast endurance  unto  the  end  that  must  mark  all 
those  who  are  to  be  accounted  worthy  disciples  of 
the  truth. 

In  the  two  parables  in  chapter  16,  Jesus  con- 
tinues in  the  line  of  his  general   purpose  of  the 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     1 83 

training  of  the  Twelve  (cf.  i6:  i),  to  bring  them  Teaching 
into  his  own  spirit  and  thought,  and  to  guard  them  ^eai™°^ 
against  the  insidious,  ever  present,  and  ever  cor- 
rupting Pharisaic  spirit.  In  these  two  parables 
Jesus  centers  his  teaching  on  the  point  of  the 
Pharisaic  love  of  money  (vv.  14,  10,  11,  19).  For 
Jesus  thinks  of  the  spirit  of  avarice  and  covetous- 
ness  as  eating  into  all  the  rest  of  life,  if  allowed 
to  take  its  course.^  The  most  of  Luke's  chapter  i6, 
therefore,  might  be  regarded  as  warning  against 
the  Pharisaic  love  of  money,  —  an  attitude  which 
ignores  the  law  of  consequences,  or,  as  teaching 
concerning  the  right  use  of  money.  All  through 
this  central  section  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  as 
given  in  Luke,  is  to  be  noted  the  self-evidence  of 
the  teaching  of  Jesus,  as  tracing  out  the  inevitable 
inner  consequences  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  laws 
of  men's  inner  natures. 

The  parable  of  the  unrighteous  steward  (i6  :  i-  The  parable 
13)  might  be  called  the  true  use  of  riches,  or,  the  r/ghteo"s' 
need  of  foresight  in  the  spiritual  life.     The  parable  steward. 
has  been  the  occasion  of  what  Plummer  rightly  calls 
an  "  enormous  and  unrewarding  literature."     This 
parable  is  preeminently  a  case  where  the  interpre- 
tation must  be  held  to  the  one  main  point  of  the 
parable.     If  this  point  had  been  kept  in  mind,  the 
literature  upon  it  would  have  been  less  enormous 
and  more  rewarding.      It  is  not  pretended  that  the 
steward's  procedure  was  right ;  he  is  called  "  un- 
righteous."    The  single  point  of  approval  is  of  his 

1  Cf.  parable  of  the  rich  fool. 


1 84 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


The  direct 
teaching  of 
the  parable. 

The  need 
of  foresight 
in  the  moral 
life. 


wise  foresight  in  providing^  through  his  present 
opportunity,  for  the  future.  Jesus,  in  his  comments 
on  the  parable  (if  we  may  trust  the  position  given 
by  the  Evangelist  to  the  remarks  following),  seems 
to  have  taken  unusual  pains  to  prevent  a  misuse 
of  the  parable,  by  a  succession  of  clear  points  in 
verses  8-13.  (v.  13,  found  also  in  Matthew,  seems 
most  likely  to  have  been  brought  in  here  by  the 
Evangelist  as  logically  akin  to  the  other  comments.) 
It  is  perhaps  not  unlikely  that  some  such  actual 
recent  case  of  a  steward  may  have  come  under 
Jesus*  observation,  and  led  him  to  use  it  to  urge  — 
what  must  have  constantly  oppressed  him  (cf.  14  : 
1 5-24)  —  the  contrasted  singular  lack  of  foresight 
shown  by  men  in  their  moral  and  spiritual  life 
(v.  8);  especially  in  the  possible  use  of  money 
(v.  9).  The  more  clear-sighted  and  loving  Christ 
was,  the  more  must  this  stubborn,  heart-breaking 
folly  of  men  in  the  carelessness  of  their  highest 
interests  have  oppressed  him.  He  might  well 
concentrate  the  whole  force  of  one  parable  on  the 
unspeakable  folly  of  sin,  rather  than  on  its  sinful- 
ness ;  for  words  cannot  adequately  characterize 
that  folly. 

The  direct  teaching  of  the  parable  and  of  the 
comments  subjoined  by  Luke  particularly  concern 
our  time,  and  may  be  thus  indicated : 

(i)  The  8th  verse  emphasizes  particularly  the 
lack  a7id  fieed  of  foresight  in  the  moral  and  spiritual 
life,  in  which  so  generally  there  is  no  forecasting  of 
the  future  or  of  the  certain  consequences  of  one's 


THE   TEACHING    PECULIAR   TO    LUKE  1 85 

action;  no  such  prudent  foresight  as  men  con- 
stantly show  in  material  affairs.  Jesus  is  here 
protesting  against  a  moral  and  spiritual  shiftless- 
ness,  a  spiritual  living  from  hand  to  mouth ;  against 
the  reckless  jeopardizing  of  all  that  is  most  valu- 
able in  life  for  the  gratification  of  present  desire ; 
against  dooming  oneself  to  endless  regret,  staking 
without  foresight  reputation,  not  only,  but  charac- 
ter, one's  own  happiness  and  life  opportunity,  and 
the  happiness  and  honor  of  children,  kindred,  and 
friends  as  well.  The  questions  suggested  by  this 
brief  comment  in  the  8th  verse  are  such  as  these : 
Are  you  providing  for  any  certain  growth  in  char- 
acter and  faith,  —  carefully  planning  far  ahead 
for  a  sure  development  of  your  highest  life  ?  have 
you  taken  your  bearings  and  seen  the  inevitable 
direction  and  trend  of  your  present  choices,  your 
present  tastes  and  enjoyments,  your  present  habits 
of  thought  and  life.**  are  you  thinking  what  you 
are  coming  to  .-*  are  you  preparing  for  certain  fruit 
in  maturity,  for  an  old  age  that  shall  not  be  filled 
with  vain  regret  and  repining  ?  are  you  investing 
in  permanent  values  that  will  not  decline,  but 
rather  continually  grow  in  value  ? 

(2)  Jesus  applies  the  principle  especially  to  Making 
pointing  out  how  royally  even  money  can  be  used  J^°^^y  ^ 
in  providing  for  one's  future  best  self  and  service, 
in  the  rich  store  of  friendships  for  all  the  future 
(v.  9).  The  exhortation  here  is  to  use  your  money 
(see  the  Revised  Version)  in  such  a  way,  in  such 
friendly,  loving  service  of  men,  that  you  shall  be 


1 86 


THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


Training 
for  greater 
trusts. 


From  trust 
of  the 
outer  to 
trust  of  the 
inner. 


The 

necessary 
unity  of  life. 


making  great  investments  of  love  and  service,  that 
are  eternal,  and  the  sure  fruit  of  which  shall  be 
yours  in  all  the  future.  We  cannot  carry  our 
money,  or  the  things  which  it  can  buy,  with  us 
through  death  into  another  life,  but  we  can  carry 
the  results  of  its  loving  ministering  use  in  eternal 
friendships. 

(3)  Jesus  further  suggests  that  in  the  use  of 
one's  money  one  is  being  tested  and  trained  in 
that  which  is  comparatively  "little,"  for  trusts  in 
matters  far  more  important,  for  that  which  is 
"much."  If  you  cannot  be  trusted  to  use  un- 
selfishly money,  —  "a  comparatively  low  form  of 
power,"  1 — how  can  you  be  trusted  with  far  greater 
and  richer  powers,  —  power  of  prayer,  power  of 
deep  moral  and  spiritual  influence  and  leadership, 
—  "the  true  riches"  .?  (vv.  10,  11). 

(4)  Again,  if  you  cannot  be  trusted  to  use  unself- 
ishly money  and  material  possessions — that  which 
can  never  be  in  any  full  sense  one's  own  —  how 
can  you  be  trusted  with  that  which  would  be  pe- 
culiarly and  absolutely  "your  own,"  —  greatly  de- 
veloped inner  capacities,  intellectual,  moral,  and 
spiritual  powers  .•*  (v.  12). 

(5)  Once  more,  it  is  urged  in  close  connection 
with  the  last  thought,  that  one  cannot  serve  God 
and  mammon.  The  law  is  an  inevitable  one, 
growing  out  of  the  certain  unity  of  the  spiritual 
life  (v.   13).     This  principle  suggests  that  if  you 

^  Bosworth,  Studies  in  the  Teaching  of  Jesus  and  His  Apostles^ 
p.  177. 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     1 87 

are  not  using  your  money  for  service,  if  you  are 
not  subordinating  all  lesser  goods  to  the  great 
ends  of  the  Kingdom,  then  you  are  really  making 
money  your  god ;  you  cannot  serve  God  and  con- 
tinue in  selfishness.  On  the  other  hand,  the  true 
service  of  God  in  the  loving,  ministering  life  de- 
livers from  bondage  to  mammon  and  selfishness ; 
they  cannot  go  together.  Gladstone's  comment 
on  the  lust  for  gold  in  times  of  war  may  be  taken 
as  an  illustration  of  the  fearful  power  of  the  greed 
of  money  in  uprooting  all  ideals ;  and  modern  life 
is  full  of  similar  illustrations. 

The  parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus  (i6 :  19-  The  parable 
31)  might  have  as  its  secondary  title,  the  inevitable  and  Lazarus 
consequences  in  another  life  of  the  selfish  use  of 
money,  and,  upon  the  ethical  side,  it  may  be  taken 
as  illustrating  the  lessons  of  the  preceding  parable.^ 

The  peculiar  teaching  in  Luke  is  represented,  of  Summary 
course,  mainly  in  the  peculiar  parables.  The  par-  °°grace.  ^^ 
ables  of  graces  as  we  have  called  them,  set  forth  a 
sympathetic,  forgiving  love  (the  two  debtors),  an 
active,  ministering  love  that  is  willing  to  put  itself 
out  (the  Good  Samaritan),  and  a  love  that  cares, 
that  longs,  that  seeks,  that  grieves  over  loss  and 
rejoices  over  finding  (the  parables  of  the  lost  coin 
and  the  lost  son). 

The  parables  of  warning  set  forth  the  folly  of  Summary 
heaping  up  things  instead  of  enlarging  one's  life  ^J"  ISni'ng! 
(the  rich  fool),  the  necessity  of  vigilant  watchful- 
ness (the  watchful  servants),  the  condemnation  of 

1  Cf.  Dods,  The  Parables  of  Our  Lord^  Second  Series,  pp.  167  ff. 


i88 


THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 


Comparison 
with  doubly 
attested 
sayings. 


fruitlessness  (the  barren  fig  tree),  the  humiliation 
of  the  proud  and  the  exaltation  of  the  humble  (the 
chief  seats,  and  the  Pharisee  and  the  publican), 
the  necessity  of  counting  the  cost  of  attainment 
in  character  (the  rash  builder  and  the  rash  king), 
the  folly  of  the  lack  of  foresight  in  the  spiritual 
life,  especially  in  the  use  of  money,  and  the  law  of 
consequences  in  the  selfish  use  of  money  (the  un- 
righteous steward,  and  Dives  and  Lazarus),  and 
the  demand  for  patient  readiness  for  exacting  serv- 
ice (the  parable  of  extra  service). 

When  one  compares  the  teaching  in  these  sec- 
tions peculiar  to  Luke  with  the  ethical  notes  brought 
out  in  "the  laws  of  life"  set  forth  in  the  doubly 
attested  sayings,  he  cannot  fail  to  see  the  manifest 
kinship  of  this  teaching  peculiar  to  Luke,  and  find 
the  same  great  ethical  emphases  recurring.  The 
laws  of  Ufe  set  forth  in  those  sayings,  we  saw, 
gathered  about  the  moral  end^  the  moral  evidencey 
and  the  moral  means.  And  those  laws  meant  as 
to  the  end  or  goal  of  life  that  we  could  build  con- 
fidently on  faith  in  the  moral  trend  of  the  uni- 
verse, on  love  at  the  very  heart  of  the  world,  and 
therefore  on  faith  that  love  is  life.  The  law  as  to 
moral  evidence  meant  that  one  was  to  be  abso- 
lutely true  to  his  inner  sense  of  obligation,  to  his 
own  best  vision.  And  as  to  moral  meanSy  these 
laws  meant  for  oneself  that  one  was  not  to  forget 
the  unity  of  his  nature  and  the  absolute  necessity 
of  a  genuine  inner  life  of  his  own,  and  to  this  end 
was  to  be  dead  in  earnest,  remembering  the  law  of 


THE  TEACHING  PECULIAR  TO  LUKE     1 89 

habit  and  the  law  of  efficiency  in  seeking  his  one 
goal,  —  the  reign  of  an  unselfish  love  in  his  own 
life.  And  that  in  relations  to  others  it  meant 
equal  earnestness  of  life,  the  recognition  of  the 
law  of  the  contagion  of  the  good,  of  the  necessity 
of  witness  in  the  sharing  of  the  good,  of  reverence 
for  the  person,  and  of  priority  by  service,  in  the 
fulfilment  of  a  self -giving  love. 

Every  one  of  these  notes,  it  may  fairly  be  said,  All  these 
is  to  be  found  in  this  peculiar  teaching  in  Luke,  "^  Luke^°^ 
and  confirmed  and  extended.  Nowhere  quite  so 
perfectly,  in  the  first  place,  is  the  ground  laid  for 
faith  in  the  love  of  God,  in  love  at  the  heart  of  the 
world,  as  in  the  story  of  Simon  and  the  woman 
and  the  parable  of  the  two  debtors,  the  parable  of 
the  Good  Samaritan,  the  parable  of  the  lost  coin, 
and  above  all,  the  parable  of  the  lost  son.  No- 
where more  surely  is  love  revealed  as  life  itself. 
And  in  these  all,  as  well  as  in  the  parables  of 
warning,  there  is  in  marked  degree  that  direct 
inner  appeal  upon  which  Jesus  everywhere  relied 
as  the  sole  moral  evidence  needed.  The  parables 
of  warning  all  illustrate  the  thoroughgoing  ear- 
nestness of  Jesus'  ethical  conception  and  demand, 
and  the  need  of  vigilant  watchfulness.  And  the 
other  demands  upon  one's  own  life  are  practically 
all  reflected,  also,  in  these  parables  of  warning. 

Judged  by  the  criterion  of  the  doubly  attested  Conclusion, 
sayings,  there  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  for  call- 
ing  in    question  the   genuineness  of   the  general 
tenor  of  the  peculiar  teaching  in  Luke,  though  it 


1 90  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

is  possible  that,  as  we  have  found  in  Matthew,  the 
eschatological  coloring  of  certain  passages  may 
have  been  unconsciously  deepened  by  the  inherited 
presuppositions  of  the  writers,  and  of  those  from 
whom  their  traditions  were  obtained. 


CHAPTER  V 
THE   SERMON   ON   THE    MOUNT  AS  A  WHOLE. 

In  turning,  in  the  three  chapters  following,  to 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  we  enter  a  field  in 
which  very  many  have  worked,  through  all  the 
Christian  centuries.  As  to  critical  positions,  we 
may  properly  build  directly  upon  the  exhaustive 
study  of  Professor  Votaw,^  written  in  the  light  of 
all  the  literature  upon  this  Sermon.  I  may  do 
this  the  more  properly  because  I  find  myself  in  so 
general  agreement  with  Professor  Votaw's  conclu- 
sions, confirmed,  as  they  are  at  most  points,  by  at 
least  a  large  consensus  of  scholars,  and  by  two  of 
the  latest  Studies  in  this  field.^ 

In  the  first  place,  then,  it  may  be  said  that  "  it  Genuine- 
is  the  prevailing  opinion  among  New  Testament  ^ea^^Wn^^ 
scholars  that  in  Matthew  5-7  we  have  an  account  here, 
of  a   discourse   actually   delivered   by  Jesus,   the 
theme  and  substance  of  which  are  here  preserved."  ^ 
Harnack  believes  that  58  out  of  the  97  verses  in 
Matthew's  account  of  the  Sermon  were  found  in 
Q,  and  thinks  that  it  may  be  said  with  certainty 

1  H.  D.  B.,  extra  volume. 

2  Allen,  International  Critical  Comtnentary^  Matthew  ;  Harnack, 
The  Sayings  of  Jesus. 

3  H.  D.  B.,  extra  volume,  p.  i. 

191 


192 


THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


Passages 
not  in  the 
original 
discourse. 


"  that  even  in  Q,  large  portions  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount  occurred  together."  ^  And  of  those 
passages  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  which  stood 
in  Q,  he  says  further,  *'  We  notice  scarcely  any- 
thing which  might  not  pass  as  primary  tradition."  ^ 
Of  all  this  material  in  Q  he  says  still  more  emphati- 
cally, "  Judged  in  detail  and  as  a  whole,  all  that  is 
presented  as  teaching  of  our  Lord  in  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  bears  the  stamp  of  unalloyed  genu- 
ineness.^ 

Doubtless  some  elements  are  brought  into  Mat- 
thew's version  of  the  Sermon  *'  which  did  not  form 
a  part  of  the  original  discourse."  And  this 
changed  connection  may,  at  certain  points,  affect 
the  impression  made  by  the  passage.*  There  is 
no  reason,  however,  to  question  even  these  sayings 
as  genuine  sayings  of  Jesus,  and  they  are  there- 
fore available  for  our  purpose,  whether  they  were 
parts  of  the  original  discourse  or  not.  In  Votaw*s 
language,  "  The  added  matter  is  just  as  valuable 
and  trustworthy  as  the  nucleus  matter,  being 
equally  the  authentic  utterances  of  Jesus."  ° 

*  The  Sayings  of/esus,  p.  74. 

2  Op.  cit,  p.  200.  8  Qp^  cit^^  p_  209. 

*  The  passages  concerning  which  there  has  been  most  doubt  as 
to  whether  they  form  a  part  of  the  original  Sermon  are  5 :  25,  26, 
31,32;   6:7-15;    7:6,7-11,22-23. 

^  Op.  cit.,  p.  2.  The  main  caution  to  be  observed  as  to  Matthew's 
version  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  to  be  seen  in  Allen's  remark : 
"  It  is  clear  that  the  editor  [of  our  gospel  of  Matthew]  regarded 
the  Mosaic  law  as  still  binding  in  all  its  details  on  Christian  men. 
Now  it  is  probable  that  we  must  make  allowance  here  for  some 
overemphasis  due  to  local  and  national  prejudice,  which  inter- 


THE    SERMON    ON   THE    MOUNT   AS   A   WHOLE       1 93 

It  may  be  further  regarded  as  practically  settled  Matthew's 
for  our  study  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  that  ''^'"r''  ^ 

-^  preferred. 

Matthew  and  Luke  give  "  essentially  one  dis- 
course. .  .  .  This  is  the  almost  unanimous  opin- 
ion of  scholars."  ^  Some,  at  least,  of  the  reasons 
for    Luke's    omissions    may    be    reasonably    dis- 

preted  Christ's  sayings  in  the  direction  which  the  history  of  the 
Jewish  people  seemed  to  warrant,  and  which  took  effect  in  the 
selection,  and  arrangement,  and  interpretation  of  such  of  his  sayings 
as  lent  themselves  to  the  impression  which  it  was  desired  to  pro- 
duce." Illustrations  of  this  tendency  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
he  finds  in  5 :  18-19,  —  "  One  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass 
away  from  the  law,"  etc.,  and  in  5  :  32,  in  the  addition  of  the  phrase 
"saving  for  the  cause  of  fornication"  (art.  "Matthew,"  D.  C.  G., 
vol.  II,  p.  148).  Cf.  5:  18-19.  Allen  says,  "It  is  quite  probable 
that  verses  18  and  19  are  genuine  sayings  of  Christ  spoken  on  some 
occasion  when  their  meaning  could  not  be  mistaken,  as  a  paradoxi- 
cal expression  of  the  permanent  value  of  the  moral  elements  in  the 
Old  Testament.  But  as  they  now  stand  they  hopelessly  confuse  the 
plain  tenor  of  the  Sermon."  (^Op.  cit.y  p.  149.)  To  similar  import 
Votaw  says  as  to  the  relation  of  Jesus  to  the  Old  Testament  law, 
that  in  verse  17  —  "Think  not  that  I  came  to  destroy  the  law  or 
the  prophets :  I  came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil "  —  "  Jesus  could 
only  have  meant  that  he  came  to  fulfil  the  law  and  the  prophets 
by  first  perfecting  them  and  then  accomplishing  them.  This  is  now 
the  generally  accepted  interpretation."  But  as  to  verses  18  and  19 
Votaw  adds,  "  An  increasing  number  of  scholars  have  come  to  ques- 
tion the  precise  authenticity  of  the  utterances  as  they  stand  reported 
in  Matthew  5  :  18-19.  •  •  •  The  two  verses  seem  to  have  a  real  nucleus 
of  something  said  by  Jesus  on  this  occasion.  But  a  certain  Jewish- 
Christian  coloring  they  may  have  received  in  transmission.  ... 
What  these  verses  now  say  is  inconsistent  with  Jesus'  other  teaching 
and  with  his  practice  regarding  the  Old  Testament  law  "  (H.  D.  B., 
extra  volume,  pp.  24,  25).  With  the  exception  of  these  two  verses, 
in  their  literal  interpretation,  there  is  perhaps  nothing  else  in  the 
entire  Sermon  in  Matthew  that  need  be  called  in  question  as 
genuine  sayings  of  Jesus.  ^  Votaw,  op.  cit.,  p.  3. 

o 


194  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

cerned.^  Matthew's  version  is  preferred  and  fol- 
lowed in  our  study  here,  because,  in  Votaw's  lan- 
guage, he  "  presents  a  much  more  complete  account 
of  the  Sermon,"  and  "in  wording  a  like  ver- 
dict of  superior  excellence  falls  to  the  Gospel  of 
Matthew.  .  .  .  There  are  many  indications  that 
Matthew  gives  the  better  record.  .  .  .  There 
would  seem,  therefore,  to  be  no  room  for  ques- 
tion that,  historically  considered,  the  Sermon  as 
given  by  Matthew  is  of  much  greater  authenticity 
than  the  Sermon  of  Luke.  ...  In  this  prefer- 
ence for  the  Matthean  report  of  the  Sermon,  nearly 
all  scholars  are  now  agreed."  ^ 

We  may  turn,  then,  with  assured  conviction,  to 
Matthew's  version  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  as 
containing  in  its  practical  entirety,  with  the  excep- 
tions already  noted,  genuine  teaching  of  Jesus. 
For  our  ethical  study  it  is  not,  in  any  ordinary 
case,  of  special  importance  whether  the  passages 
originally  all  occurred  in  this  connection  or  not. 
The  material,  however,  will  be  more  clearly 
grasped  by  presenting  it,  in  the  first  place,  in 
an  outline  of  the  whole ;  and  there  are  presented, 
therefore,  here,  my  own  outline,  and  for  compari- 
son, the  very  suggestive  outline  given  in  Professor 
Votaw's  article.^ 

1  Cf.  Votaw,  op.  cit.y  p.  7;  Adeney,  art.  "  Sermon  on  the  Mount," 
D.  C.  G.,  vol.  II,  p.  609. 

2  Votaw,  op.  cit.,  pp.  7,  8,  9,  10.  This  judgment  of  Votaw  is 
confirmed  by  Harnack's  study  of  Matthew  and  Luke's  treatment  of 
Q,  in  his  The  Sayings  of  Jesus,  pp.  xii,  37. 

8  Cf.  also  Bacon,  The  Sermon  on  the  Mounts  pp.  85  ff.j  Gore, 
The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  pp.  xi-xii. 


THE   SERMON   ON   THE   MOUNT   AS   A   WHOLE       1 9$ 

OUTLINE   OF  THE  SERMON 

Matthew  5:3-7:  27 

The  Principles  of  the  Kingdom  set  forth  in  Contrast 
WITH  THE  Spirit  of  the  Times. 

I.   The  subjects  of  the  Kingdom.     5  :  3-16. 

A.  Their   character,    the    source  of  their  blessedness. 

5:3-12. 

B.  The  hope  of  the  world.     5  :  13-16. 

II.    The  righteousness  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  5  :  17-7 :  27. 

A.  Inward  righteousness.     The  Izxg&si  fulfillment  of  the 

law  as  contrasted  with  the  practice  and  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Pharisees.     5  :  17-48. 
Introduction.     The  theme,     vv.  17-20. 

1.  Not  only  no  killing,  but  no  spirit  of  hatred,    vv. 

21-26. 

2.  Not  only  no  adultery,  but  no  impurity  of  thought. 

vv.  27-32. 

3.  Replacing  oaths  by  simple  truthfulness,  vv.  33-37. 

4.  Not  only   no   retaliation,  but  service   outrunning 

selfish  demands,     vv.  38-42. 

5.  Universal  love  like  God's.      Summary  conclusion. 

vv.  43-48. 

B.  Righteousness  unto  the  Father j  in  the  inward,  filial 

spirit,  as  contrasted  with  Pharisaic  righteousness 
before  men.     ch.  6. 

1.  Secret  alms,  as  unto  the  Father.    VV.-2-4. 

2.  Secret  prayer,  as  unto  the  Father,     vv.  5-15. 

3.  Secret  fasting,  as  unto  the  Father,     vv.  16-18. 

4.  Heavenly  treasure  in  single-hearted   and  trustful 

service  of  God.   Summary  conclusion,   vv.  19-34. 

C.  The  righteousness  of  the  sacred  reverence  for  the  per- 

son.     7 :  1-14. 
I.  Judging  oneself,  not  irreverent  judging  of  others. 
vv.  1-5. 


196 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


2.  Reverence  for  one's  own  personality,    v.  6. 

3.  Reverent  trust  in  the  Father's  reverent  love.    vv. 

7-1 1. 

4.  The  all-embracing  law  of  love.   Reverencing  other* 

as  yourself,     v.  12.^ 

5.  The  consequent  narrow  entrance  to  the  Kingdom. 

vv.  13-14. 
Summary  conclusion.     The  true  and  false  subjects 
contrasted.     "  By  their  fruits."    7 :  1 5-27. 


Jesus' 
discoveries 
in  the 
Sermon. 


PROFESSOR   VOTAW'S    OUTLINE 
Theme:  The  Ideal  Life:  its  Characteristics,  Mission, 

AND  OUTWORKINGS,   AND  THE   DUTY  OF  ATTAINING   It. 

A.  The  ideal  life  described.     Matt.  5  :  1-16.     Luke  6 :  20-26. 

a.  Its  characteristics.     Matt.  5  :  1-12.     Luke  6:  20-26. 

b.  Its  mission.     Matt.  5  :  13-16. 

B.  Its  relation  to  the  earlier  Hebrew  ideal.     Matt.  5  :  17-20. 

C.  The  outworkings  of  the  ideal  life.     Matt.  5:21-7:  12. 

Luke  6 :  27-42. 

a.  In  deeds  and   motives.       Matt.   5 :  21-48.       Luke 

6 :  27-30,  32-36. 

b.  In  real  religious  worship.  Matt.  6  :  1-18. 

c.  In  trust  and  self-devotion.  Matt.  6:  19-34. 

d.  In  treatment  of  others.  Matt.    7  :  1-12.       Luke 

6:31,37-42. 

D.  The  duty  of  living  the  ideal  life.     Matt.  7  :  13-27.     Luke 

6 :  43-49- 

Side  by  side  with  these  outlines  of  the  entire 
thought  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  may  well 
be  put  what  may  be  called  the  spiritual  discover- 
ies of  Jesus  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  those 
main  contentions  of  the  teaching  here  considered, 

1  Cf.  Votaw,  op.  ciL,  p.  42 :  "  Let  each  man  respect  the  individ- 
uality and  observe  the  rights  of  every  other  man." 


THE  SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT  AS  A  WHOLE   1 9/ 

which,  while  often  not  absolutely  originating  with 
him,  yet  are  here  carried  out  in  a  way  nowhere 
else  to  be  found.  For,  as  previously  intimated, 
the  originality  of  Jesus  does  not  consist  in  the 
fact  that  no  one  else  has  said  anything  that  he 
says,  but  that  he  discerns  with  such  unerring  cer- 
tainty what  is  truly  significant,  and  sifts  it  out  from 
the  less  significant,  giving  it  its  due  prominence 
and  carrying  the  principle  through  to  the  end, 
consistently  and  thoroughly.  So  Votaw  says, 
"Jesus'  originality  —  and  the  term  is  not  mis- 
applied —  consisted  in  his  divine  ability  to  sepa- 
rate the  true  from  the  false,  the  permanent  from 
the  transient,  the  perfect  from  the  imperfect;  and 
then  to  carry  forward  the  whole  circle  of  ideas  and 
practices  to  their  ideal  expression."  ^ 

The  rabbinical  parallels  to  isolated  utterances  do  The 
not  gainsay  this  marked  quaHty  of  originaHty  in  o"  jesus*^ 
Jesus ;  for,  in  Wellhausen's  words,  "  The  originality 
of  Jesus  consists  in  this,  that  he  had  the  feeling  for 
what  was  true  and  eternal  amid  a  chaotic  mass  of 
rubbish,  and  that  he  enunciated  it  with  the  greatest 
emphasis."  2 

1  op.  cit.,  p.  34. 

2  Quoted  by  Stewart,  art.  "  Originality,"  D.  C.G.,  vol.  II,  p.  290. 
Cf.  J.  E.  Carpenter,  The  First  Three  Gospels,  pp.  316,  321,  322,  328; 
Harnack,  What  is  Christianity  ?,  pp.  63  ff.,  68,  70,  71  ff.;  'Loizt,The 
MicrocosmuSy  vol.  II,  pp.  470  ff.;  Wundt,  The  Facts  of  the  Moral 
Life,  p.  291 ;  Peabody,  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Christian  Character^ 
p.  118;  Gardner,  Exploratio  Evangelica,  p.  178;  Wendt,  The 
Teaching  of  Jesus,  vol.  I,  pp.  332,  337,  339,  350;  Jiilicher,  Paulus 
und  Jesus  ;  McGiffert,  "  "Was  Jesus  or  Paul  the  t'ounder  of  Chris- 
tianity? "  American  Journal  of  Theology,  January,  1909,  pp.  18-20. 


1 98  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

Points  of  For  myself,   I   should  say  that  the  question  of 

origina  ity.  ^^^  originality  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  is  not  prop- 
erly the  question  of  the  origin  of  a  phrase.  It  need 
not  surprise  us,  as  Lotze  has  suggested,  to  find  con- 
siderable similarity  in  ways  of  putting  the  same 
moral  precepts.  Nor  is  there  any  need  that  one 
should  lack  the  fullest  appreciation  of  all  the  ele- 
ments of  value  in  non-Christian  systems.  Jesus* 
great  originality  lies  not  in  the  fact  that  there 
are  no  anticipations  in  any  degree  of  even  those 
elements  of  his  teaching  that  are  essentially  pe- 
culiar, but  rather  in  his  marvelous  supremacy  when 
brought  into  comparison  with  all  other  moral  and 
religious  teachers ;  in  the  wonderful  unity  of  life 
and  teaching  and  influence ;  in  his  deep  insight 
into  the  very  heart  of  all  life,  into  the  secret  of  all 
living.  One  finds  in  him  no  elaborate  deductions, 
no  painstakingly  preserved  system,  but  rather  an 
insight  so  complete  as  to  allow  even  scattered 
maxims  to  be  brought  into  a  perfect  unity,  with- 
out contradictions  and  without  inconsistencies. 

In  particular,  to  put  the  matter  in  the  briefest 
compass,  I  should  say:  — 

(i)  That  Jesus'  teaching,  in  a  peculiar  degree, 
gives  unity  to  the  spiritual  life  in  its  conception 
of  love  as  fulfilling  all  righteousness.  And  the 
obligation  of  universal  love  is  peculiarly  its  con- 
tribution to  the  ethical  thought  of  the  world. 

(2)  As  Lotze  has  suggested,^  it  really  gives 
much  deeper  meaning  to  the  things  in  which  it 
1  Op,  dt,i  vol.  II,  pp.  470-472. 


THE  SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT  AS  A  WHOLE   1 99 

seems  to  agree  with  other  religions.     The  moral 
law  becomes  the  will  of  the  personal  Father. 

(3)  Practically,  it  may  be  said  to  add  a  whole 
new  realm  of  morality  —  that  of  the  so-called  pas- 
sive virtues  of  the  Beatitudes. 

(4)  It  brings  into  morality  an  absolutely  new 
spirit  —  the  spirit  of  the  free  and  joyful  obedience 
of  a  child  to  the  Father. 

(5)  It  may  be  added,  as  Romanes  suggests,  that 
the  teaching  of  Jesus  is  equally  remarkable  for 
what  it  does  not  contain.  He  speaks,  therefore,  of 
"  the  absence  from  the  biography  of  Christ  of  any 
doctrines  which  the  subsequent  growth  of  human 
knowledge  —  whether  in  natural  science,  ethics, 
political  economy,  or  elsewhere  —  has  had  to  dis- 
count. This  negative  argument  is  really  almost  as 
strong  as  is  the  positive  one  from  what  Christ  did 
teach." 

(6)  But  the  great  and  unique  contribution  which, 
above  all  else,  Jesus  makes  to  ethics  and  religion  is 
himself.  No  personality  can  for  an  instant  be 
placed  beside  his  as  worthy  of  comparison  with 
him;  and  therein  lies  the  great,  peculiar,  unique 
contribution  of  Jesus  to  the  moral  and  religious 
life. 

(7)  In  close  connection  with  this  it  is  to  be  said 
that  the  world's  experience  with  Christianity  has 
amply  proven,  also,  Jesus'  peculiar  power  to  make 
his  moral  teaching  effective  in  the  lives  of  men. 
This  power  of  moral  energizing,  Lecky,  for  ex- 
ample, explicitly  recognizes,  and  it  lies  on  the  face 


200 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


The  spiritual 
discoveries 
of  Jesus  in 
the  Sermon 
on  the 
Mount. 


of  the  historical  record.  In  Fairbairn's  words, 
**  Love  to  him  is  the  only  thing  in  the  region  of 
moral  motive  that  can  be  described  as  an  imperish- 
able yet  convertible  force,  whose  changes  of  form 
never  mean  decrease  of  energy  or  loss  of  power."  ^ 

And  it  is  this  kind  of  originality  which  justifies 
us  in  speaking  here  of  the  spiritual  discoveries  of 
Jesus,  as  contained  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.^ 

These  spiritual  discoveries  of  Jesus  may  be  thus 
phrased  :  ^  — 

I.  The  nature  of  true  righteousness. 

(i)  The  indissoluble  unity  of  the  ethical  and  religious  life ; 
the  proof  of  relation  to  God  is  fruit  in  life.  5  :  3-12, 
20,  23-24,  45>  48  ;  6  :  I,  2  ;  7:12,  20-27. 

The  necessity  of  mental  and  spiritual  independence  — 
the  authority  of  self-evident  truth.  "  But  I  say," 
etc.  5  : 3-12,  17,  22,  28,  34,  39,  44;  6:1,  7,  9-13, 
22-24,  25  ;  7 :  12,  21-23,  24-27,  cf.  29. 

The  true  righteousness  is  inner  always.     5  :  17-48. 

Love  is  the  sum  of  righteousness  —  sharing  God's 


(5=) 


(3) 
(4) 


1  See  Fairbairn's  whole  strong  summary  of  the  verdict  of  history 
on  Christ,  in  his  The  Place  of  Christ  in  Modern  Theology^  pp.  378- 
382. 

2  For  our  detailed  ethical  study,  however,  we  may  omit  the 
sections  distinctly  religious  (Matt.  6:5-21,  25-34;  7:7-11),  as 
well  as  three  brief  passages  covered  in  previous  discussions  (5  :  13, 

29-30»  31-32). 

*  Cf.  the  summary  of  Jesus'  services  to  morality  in  The  Creed  of 
Christ, 'p'^'  125  ff.;  Bacon,  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount;  Wendt,  The 
Teaching  offesus,  vol.  II,  pp.  388  fF. ;  Anthony,  "  The  Ethical  Prin- 
ciples of  Jesus,"  Biblical  World,  July,  1909;  Swete,  Studies  in  the 
Teaching  of  Our  Lord,  ^^.  184-185;  Schmiedel, /(fx«5  in  Modern 
Criticism,  pp.  90-91;  Brooks,  The  Influence  of  fesus,  pp.  28  fF.; 
Burton,  "  Jesus  as  a  Thinker,"  Biblical  Worldy  October,  1897,  PP* 
245  ff.;   Ecce  Homo,  pp.  195  ff. 


THE   SERMON    ON   THE    MOUNT   AS   A   WHOLE      201 

own  life.      Do  always  and  only  what  love  requires. 
5  :  44-48,  39-42. 
(5)    A  deep  reverence  for  the  priceless  value  and  sacred- 
ness  of  the  person  is  fundamental.     7:1-14.     Cf. 
5  :  8,  22,  28,  32,  45.1 

2.  Inferences  from  the  Beatitudes. 

(i)  Christ's  deep  optimism.  Happiness  is  possible  to 
men  even  with  suffering.     5  :  3-12. 

(2)  The  discovery  of  a  whole  new  division  of  happiness, 

the  happiness  of  a  deep  and  abiding  faith  and  hope 
and  love.     5  :  3-12. 

(3)  The  prime  conditions  of  happiness  lie  in  character, 

and  can  be  definitely  pointed  out  —  the  qualities  of 
the  Beatitudes.     5  :  3-12. 

(4)  The  discovery  of  a  new  continent  of  virtues,  as  well, 

hardly  recognized  by  the  ancient  world  —  the  mis- 
called "passive"  virtues.     5  13-12.2 

(5)  These  are  made  the  fundamental  virtues  —  the  facets 

of  the  one  jewel  of  love.     5  :  3-12.^ 

(6)  Upon  just  these,  summed  up  in  love,  society  must  be 

built.     5  :  13-16.* 

3.  Motives  to  living. 

(i)  The  inevitable  unity  oi  a  man's  inner  life;  the  de- 
mand for  thoroughgoing  consistency  of  life.  5:18, 
19,  22,  26,  28,  29,  30,  37,  48  ;  6 :  4,  6,  22-24 ;  7  :  5» 
12,  13,  14. 

(2)  At  the  heart  of  the  world  and  life  is  a  God,  who  is  a 
loving  Father  of  all.     5  :  45,  48.^ 

iCf.  l^oiie,  Practical  Philosophy,  pp.  68,  74,  78  ff.;  T.B.  Strong, 
Christian  Ethics,  pp.  129-134;  Ecce  Homo,  pp.  155  ff.,  176,  266- 
269,  345;   Murray,  Handbook  of  Christian  Ethics,  pp.  91  ff. 

2  Cf.  Bushnell,  Sermons  for  the  New  Life,  pp.  399  ff. 

3  Cf.  King,  The  Laws  of  Friendship,  ch.  XV.  *  Cf.  Rauschen- 
busch,  Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis,  pp.  67  ff. 

5  Cf.  Bousset,  fesus,  p.  114:  "No  shallow  optimism;"  Gladden, 
The  Church  and  Modern  Life,  pp.  15,  48,  162  ff.;  Harnack,  What 
is  Christianity  ?,  pp.  63  ff.;  Brooks,  The  Influence  of  fesus,  pp.  12, 
I5»  20. 


202 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


(3) 


man  is  a 


Summary 
on  these 
main  con- 
tentions. 


(4) 


If  God  is  Father,  and  love  is  life,  every 

brother,  and  so  to  be  treated.     5  :  22-24,  37?  39-42, 

44-47. 

The  law  of  God  is  a  part  of  the  revelation  of  the  love 
of  God.  Not  avoidance  of  the  law,  but  completest 
fulfillment,  is  the  way  to  life.^  The  true  extension 
of  the  law  is  not  outer  and  mechanical,  but  in- 
ner and  ideal.  Ctr.  danger  from  hedge  of  law. 
5:17-48. 
The  involved  conception  of  the  religious  life. 
(i)  The  blessing  of  God  is  not  an  external  reward  to  be 
earned  by  hateful  tasks,  but  the  inner,  inevitable 
joy  of  the  trustful  and  obedient  spirit.  Love  is  its 
own  reward,  since  love  itself  is  life,  and  life  enlarges 
as  one  gives  himself  more  fully  and  in  more  and 
larger  relations.     5  :  17-48  ;  6 :  1-34 ;  7  :  1-27. 

If  God  is  Father,  the  religious  life  inevitably  takes  on 
a  new  spirit  of  desiring  simply  the  true  filial  rela- 
tion to  him  (cf.  5  :  45)  —  a  fact  of  the  inner  life 
with  its  inner  reward  (6:  i,  4,  6,  18),  not  possibly 
a  show  before  men.  Every  religious  act  must  there- 
fore be  a  genuine  desire  for  a  drawing  near  to  God, 
not  a  showing  off  before  men  which  vitiates  it  all. 
6:1-18. 

If  God  is  Father,  the  religious  life  becomes  one  of 
natural,  single-hearted,  complete  trust  in  the  Father. 
The  silent  moral  and  spiritual  forces  may  be  abso- 
lutely trusted.     6 :  19-34 ;  7  :  7-1 1. 


(2) 


(3) 


This  statement  of  the  main  contentions  of  Jesus 
in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  brings  out  distinctly 
a  number  of  the  emphases  already  noted  in  other 
parts  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus :  the  ethical  concep- 
tion of  religion,  the  necessity  of  mental  and  spirit- 
ual independence,  the  inevitable  inwardness  of  the 

1  Cf.  Drummond,  TAe  Ideal  Life,  p.  275. 


THE    SERMON   ON   THE   MOUNT   AS   A   WHOLE      203 

moral  life,  the  demand  for  reverence  for  the  person, 
and  the  summary  of  the  true  life  in  love.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  return  to  these  points  in  detail,  but 
the  clearness  and  strength  with  which  they  are  here 
set  forth  should  be  noted.  These  principles,  in- 
deed, permeate  the  entire  Sermon,  as  will  be  seen 
in  the  special  discussions  to  follow. 

Passing  over  the  conception  of  the  religious  life 
here  involved,  our  discussion  then  naturally  turns 
to  a  more  detailed  study,  in  the  next  chapter,  of 
the  Beatitudes  as  giving  the  basic  qualities  of  life, 
and  in  chapter  VII  to  a  study  of  the  great  motives 
of  Jesus  as  set  forth  in  the  entire  Sermon. 


CHAPTER  VI 


Definition 
of  basic 
qualities. 


The  answer 
in  the 
Beatitudes. 


Character. 


Happiness. 


JESUS'  CONCEPTION  OF  THE  BASIC   QUALITIES 
OF  LIFE  :   A  STUDY  OF  THE  BEATITUDES. 

What  are  the  basic  qualities  in  life  ?  That  is, 
what  are  the  qualities  essential  to  character,  to  hap- 
piness, and  to  influence  ?  The  question  is  absolutely- 
vital.  Has  a  precise  and  commanding  answer  ever 
been  given  ? 

The  Beatitudes  of  Jesus,  I  suppose,  are  intended 
to  give  just  such  an  answer.  In  them,  the  supreme 
artist  in  living,  facing  the  whole  problem  of  life  for 
all  men,  distinctly  challenges  the  ruHng  conceptions 
of  his  time,  and  definitely  points  out  the  qualities  of 
character  that  must  mark  the  citizen  of  the  coming 
civilization  of  brotherly  men ;  and  declares  that 
these  quaUties  are  at  the  same  time  the  supreme 
conditions  of  happiness^  and  that  they  contain  as 
well  the  secret  of  all  powerful  influence  for  good. 

Oppressed  with  the  false  standards  as  well  as 
with  the  false  acts  of  men,  he  has  begun  his 
preaching  with  the  charge :  Repent,  get  a  new 
mind.  That  new  mind  and  character  he  defines 
in  the  Beatitudes. 

The  man  who  speaks  is  no  enemy  of  life  or  of 
men.  Rather  rejoicing  in  life  himself,  and  con- 
scious of   the  power  to  bring  the  largest  life   to 

204 


THE   BASIC   QUALITIES   OF    LIFE  205 

Others,  he  has  looked  out  on  the  multitudes  with 
compassion,  as  sheep  having  no  shepherd,  eager  for 
happiness,  but  seeking  it  in  desert  places,  utterly 
mistaking  its  real  conditions.  Those  real  condi- 
tions of  happiness,  he  points  out  in  the  Beatitudes. 

Clearly  conscious,  also,  of  his  call  to  revolution-  influence. 
ize  the  selfish  civilization  of  the  world,  he  seeks 
those  men,  who  shall  be  the  salt  to  preserve  the 
world  sound,  the  light  to  enlighten  its  darkness, 
the  quickening  yeast  to  permeate  its  every  ele- 
ment, the  living  seed  of  the  great  organic  kingdom 
that  is  to  come.  And  he  is  certain  that  only  men 
marked  by  the  qualities  of  the  Beatitudes  can  so 
count  in  the  world. 

Elsewhere  he  shows  that  he  believes  that  the  Love  as 
whole  law  of  righteousness  can  be  summed  up  in  ^^^  °^  ^  * 
love  —  to  God  and  to  men.  Moreover,  he  has  such 
faith  in  men,  that  he  is  certain  that  no  abiding 
happiness  can  come  to  the  unloving.  And  he  also 
definitely  sets  before  himself  as  the  world-goal  that 
civilization  in  which  men  shall  recognize  themselves 
as  children  of  God  and  as  brothers  one  of  another 
—  the  civiHzation  of  the  loving  life.  One  single 
need  and  one  remedy  for  the  life  of  the  world  —  to 
live  the  life  of  love !  Here  are  character,  happi- 
ness, influence.  So  simply,  so  deeply,  he  sees  the 
problem. 

But   here   in   the    Beatitudes,   as    though    still  The  eie- 
further  to  simplify  the  problem,  he  attempts  to  J^^g^^°^ 
analyze  into  its  elements  this  all-inclusive  virtue 
of  love,  to  give  its  different  aspects  —  the  facets  of 


206  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

this  one  priceless  jewel.  Or,  perhaps  rather,  he 
wishes  to  indicate  the  steps  of  progress  in  the  lov- 
ing life,  from  its  beginning  in  open-minded  humil- 
ity to  its  climax  in  a  life  of  courageous  self-sacrifice. 
And  he  plainly  aims,  besides,  to  show  just  how 
these  constituent  qualities  bless  the  life  into  which 
they  come.  And,  once  more,  having  so  defined  the 
meaning  of  the  loving  life,  and  shown  it  to  be  the 
unfailing  source  of  true  happiness,  he  goes  on  to 
say  that  men  characterized  by  just  these  qualities 
are  the  salt  of  the  earth,  the  light  of  the  world,  the 
most  powerful  and  beneficent  influences  in  the  on- 
going life  of  men. 
Jesus'  map  The  Beatitudes,  then,  are  Jesus'  "  map  of  life." 
of  life.  Positive,  simple,  inner,  deep,  they  cut  quite  under 

the  decalogue  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  remain, 
even  in  the  New  Testament,  the  most  perfect  ex- 
pression, in  words,  of  "the  life  that  is  life  indeed" 
—  the  life  that  is  really  worth  while.  And  no  man 
who  wishes  to  be  what  he  ought,  to  enjoy  what  he 
may,  to  count  as  he  can,  may  wisely  ignore  them. 
The  In  other  words,  the  clearest  seer  of  the  spiritual 

Beatitudes      jjf^  ^^isit  the  world  has  ever  known,  definitely  sets 

as  giving  ,  -' 

the  basic        forth   in   the  Beatitudes  what  he   regards  as  the 

qualities.        really  basic  qualities  of  life,  and  says  straightly : 

Just  here  is  the  secret  of  character,  of  happiness, 

of  influence.     Here,  then,  are  our  chart  and  our 

sailing  orders.^ 

1  As  we  take  up  the  Beatitudes  in  detail,  we  may  well  bear  in 
mind  Tholuck's  wise  suggestion :  "  There  can  be  no  doubt  —  and 
this  should  be  carefully  noted  —  that  all  the  ideas  which  meet  us 


THE   BASIC    QUALITIES    OF   LIFE  20/ 

I.  Character.  And,  first,  here  are  the  elements 
of  true  character. 

(i)  The  qualities  involved.  Just  what  are  these 
qualities  which  Jesus  here  singles  out  as  funda- 
mental in  life  ? 

The  quality,  *'  poor  in  spirit,"  recalls  the  current  The 
use  of  the  term  "poor"  as  applied  to  *' the  party  SJ^e^g^t"^ 
of  the  faithful  and  God-fearing  Israelites."  ^  It  Beatitude, 
describes  "  the  man  who  has  a  deep  sense  of  his 
spiritual  deficiency  and  dependence  upon  God."  ^ 
Ethically  characterized,  the  poor  in  spirit  are  the 
humble,  the  teachable,  the  open-minded,  and  in- 
clude as  well  the  trustful.  They  are  to  be  con- 
trasted with  those  who  are  filled  with  pride,  conceit, 
self-satisfaction,  and  self-will.  Nor  is  the  humble 
spirit,  in  Jesus'  view,  one  of  false  self-depreciation. 
Rather  it  is  a  fundamental  conviction  of  Jesus', 
permeating  all  his  teaching,  that  every  man  is  to 
know  the  worth  of  his  own  being  and  calling  as  a 
child  of  God,  and  to  rejoice  in  it;  but  he  also 
knows  that  to  each  of  his  brethren,  too,  belong  his 
unique  personality  and  calling.  Rejoicing,  then, 
in  his  own  mission  and  message,  he  must  recognize 
equally  those  of  others,  and  be  glad  in  the  larger 
life  and  service  that  are  open  to  him  through  them. 

here  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  those  of  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
the  righteousness  of  that  Kingdom,  the  poor  in  spirit,  the  pure  in 
heart,  seeing  God,  etc.,  were  no  new  ideas,  but  well-known  ones, 
of  which  Christ  only  revealed  the  deepest  meaning."  (Quoted  by 
Votaw,  op.  cit.,  p.  17.) 

1  See  Driver,  art.  "Poor,"  H.  D.  B.,  p.  20. 

2  Votaw,  op.  cit.,  p.  1 7. 


208 


THE    ETHICS   OF   JESUS 


The 

quality  of 
tiie  second 
Beatitude. 


The 

quality  of 
the  third 
Beatitude. 


So  seeing,  he  cannot  "think  of  himself  more  highly 
than  he  ought  to  think."  And,  thus,  with  frank 
self-respect,  he  is  as  frankly  humble,  teachable, 
persistently  open-minded  toward  all  others.  This 
quality  of  humble  teachableness  is  fitly  placed  first 
in  this  sketch  of  the  ideal  life,  for  it  is  the  first  es- 
sential of  all  growth  into  better  things.  It  is  the 
door  of  entrance  to  the  kingdom  of  science,  as  well 
as  to  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 

The  true  character  must  have  humility  as  a  chief 
corner-stone. 

Since  all  the  other  Beatitudes  touch  upon  defi- 
nitely moral  qualities,  it  seems  clear  that,  by  those 
that  mourn,  Jesus  means  those  who  sorrow  for  their 
sins,  who  are  conscious  of  their  defects,  and  lament 
them,  who  are  genuinely  repentant.  His  interest 
is  in  inner  qualities  of  character  that  carry  with 
them  inevitable  blessing.^  They  are  to  be  con- 
trasted with  those  who  are  without  scruple,  and 
who  feel  free  to  follow  every  impulse  without  com- 
punction. Penitence  is  the  negative  side  of  that 
**  new  mind  "  that  Jesus  expects  to  find  in  the  true 
man.  It  implies  that  persistent  sensitiveness  of 
conscience  that  is  both  the  condition  and  the  effect 
of  steady  duty-doing  even  in  little  things. 

No  progress  in  character  is  possible  where  such 
penitence  is  lacking. 

The  meek  are  set  over  against  those  who  are 
perpetually  jealous  of  their  rights,  and  as  persist- 

^Cf.  Tholuck,  quoted  by  Votaw,  op,  cif.^  p.  19;  and  Allen, 
International  Critical  Commentary^  St.  Matthew, 


UNlVEK5>ii  T     a 

OF  ^ 

"the  basic  qualities  of  life  209 

ently  claiming  everything  for  themselves,  —  those 
of  brazen  assurance.  As  contrasted  with  these,  the 
meek  do  not  press  even  their  plain  rights ;  but  un- 
der the  provocation  of  the  invasion  of  their  rights, 
maintain  their  self-control,  and  bear  and  forbear, 
"enduring  all  things."  Meekness  is,  thus,  self- 
control  at  its  highest  power.  This  is  clearly  im- 
plied in  the  three  best  definitions  of  meekness  I  have 
ever  seen.  Meekness,  Thomas  says,  "  is  the  soul 
in  the  majesty  of  self-possession,  elevated  above 
the  irascible,  the  boisterous,  and  the  revengeful." 
So  Bishop  Moberly  writes,  "  Divine  meekness  re- 
quires strength,  self-control,  tranquil  courage,  and 
all  these  in  a  high  degree."  And  Beecher  says : 
"  It  is  the  best  side  of  a  man  under  provocation 
maintaining  itself  in  the  best  mood,  and  controlling 
all  men."  "  In  any  given  man,  meekness  is  the 
strongest  mood  in  which  he  can  carry  himself."^ 

Meekness,  then,  let  us  be  sure,  is  no  milk  and 
water  virtue,  and  still  less  a  superfluous  virtue.  It 
is  a  root-virtue,  and  essential  to  the  strong  man. 

To  "  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness  "  —  The 
not  mere  reputation  — implies  persistent  eagerness  3^e^/o^r°h 
for  high  character.     Hunger  and  thirst  are  import-  Beatitude, 
unate  and  imperative  ;  and  this  Beatitude  requires, 

1  This  element  of  self-control  in  meekness  is  clearly  brought  out 
in  Findlay's  admirable  article,  "Meekness,"  D.  C.  G.,  p.  159 :  "  It  is 
the  spirit  of  one  who  is  not  easily  provoked,  but  keeps  under  control 
the  natural  instinct  to  assert  oneself  and  to  retaliate."  Even  the 
quality  of  patient  and  calm  endurance  under  affliction  and  persecu- 
tion, which  other  commentators  are  inclined  here  to  emphasize,  it 
is  to  be  noted,  really  involves  strong  self-control. 
P 


210 


THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


The 

quality  of 
the  fifth 
Beatitude. 


The 

quality  of 
the  sixth 
Beatitude. 


therefore,  the  insatiable  desire  for  character  itself, 
the  unfailing  pursuit  of  the  best  in  conduct  and 
inner  spirit.  This  is  the  positive  side  of  the  "  new- 
mind,"  and  involves  especially  thoroughgoing  hon- 
esty. Its  goal  is  complete  integrity  of  character. 
It  is  in  dead  earnest  in  its  fight  for  character.  This 
spirit  is  the  direct  opposite  of  that  which  has  no 
care  for  character,  which  harbors  sin  unchecked, 
which  desires  only  the  reward  of  righteousness, 
not  righteousness  itself.  To  be  hungry  and  thirsty 
for  real  righteousness  means  that  the  deepest  trend 
of  one's  being  is  set  toward  the  righteousness  of  God. 

Evidently  such  a  spirit  is  indispensable  to  the 
highest  attainment  in  character. 

The  merciful  are  the  compassionate  and  sympa- 
thetic. They  are  set  over  against  the  tyrannical, 
the  hard,  and  the  intolerant.  Mercy  involves  not 
only  pity  and  courtesy,  but  positive  kindness.  It 
implies  an  understanding  of  men,  and  a  judgment 
kindly,  because  intelligent  and  sympathetic.  It  is 
far  more  than  any  mere  outward  treatment ;  it 
is  merciful  to  the  inner  person.  And  such  real 
mercy  is  no  easy  accomplishment.  One  can  count 
upon  it  only  from  the  best  —  from  those  who  know 
out  of  their  own  experience  what  temptation  and 
struggle  mean. 

Every  human  relation  calls  aloud  for  such  mercy. 

The  pure  in  heart — as  the  phrase  plainly  im- 
plies —  must  have  inner  purity.^     Jesus  clearly  be- 

1 1  cannot  doubt  that,  in  harmony  with  the  other  Beatitudes, 
Jesus  has  in  mind  here  a  specific  quality  of  the  righteous  life,  not 


THE   BASIC   QUALITIES   OF   LIFE  211 

lieves  that  such  purity  in  heart  can  belong  only  to 
those  who  have  a  deep  reverence  for  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  person  —  who  are  reverent  throughout 
and  under  the  severest  temptation.  And  social 
purity  is  one  of  the  chief  forms  of  such  purity  in 
heart.  No  love  is  a  pure  love  that  lacks  some 
real  reverence  —  to  which  the  one  loved  is  not 
really  sacred.  And  a  pure  love  becomes,  for  this 
very  reason,  the  strongest  of  all  human  motives  to 
self-control.  The  pure  in  heart  recognize  the  child 
of  God  in  every  soul,  and  treat  him,  accordingly, 
not  as  a  thing  but  as  a  holy  person. 

How  absolutely  fundamental  is  this  spirit,  every 
thoughtful  student  of  moral  growth,  whether  in  the 
individual  or  in  the  race,  well  knows. 

simply  a  general  description  of  that  life.  While  emphasis  is  laid 
upon  its  necessary  innerness,  the  Beatitude  calls  for  the  specific 
quality  of  purity,  as  involving  everywhere  a  deep  reverence  for  the 
person.  Without  this,  only  a  negative  purity,  quite  unsatisfying  to 
Jesus,  is  achieved.  This  Beatitude,  therefore,  seems  to  me  to  be 
quite  inadequately  dealt  with  by  most  writers.  I  have  long  be- 
lieved that  the  positive  side  of  purity  could  not  be  truly  charac- 
terized without  bringing  into  prominence  the  spirit  of  reverence 
for  the  person,  as  essential  to  it.  I  was  glad,  therefore,  to  have 
this  judgment  confirmed  by  the  clear  insight  of  the  article  of 
Boys-Smith  on  "  Purity,"  in  the  Dictionary  of  Christ  and  the 
Gospels.  Building  directly  on  Jesus'  teaching,  he  says:  "To  make 
common,  i.e.,  to  vulgarize,  is  the  way  to  make  impure :  profanity 
is  the  ruin  of  purity.  A  well-spring  of  living  water,  fenced  about 
by  reverence,  —  that  is  purity.  When  reverence  is  broken  through 
.  .  .  then  purity  is  gone.  .  .  .  Reverence  is  the  root  from  which 
purity  grows;  and  never  was  the  essential  nature  of  purity  set 
in  more  vivid  contrast  with  that  blind  and  brutal  profanity  which 
is  its  opposite,  than  in  Christ's  striking  utterance,  *  Give  not  that 
which  is  holy  to  the  dogs,'  "  etc.,  p.  459. 


212 


THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 


The 

quality  of 
the  seventh 
Beatitude. 


The 

quality  of 
the  eighth 
Beatitude. 


The  peacemaker  is  more  than  a  peace-keeper. 
He  belongs  to  that  high  order  of  men  who  are 
able  to  be  reconcilers  of  their  fellowmen,  who 
actively  promote  peace  among  men,  who  enter 
into  God's  own  work  of  bringing  men  into  unity. 
They  are  set  over  against  those  who  stir  up  strife 
and  promote  war,  whether  in  large  or  small  ways. 
They  have  no  part  in  the  activity  of  those  of 
whom  the  Proverbs  speak  so  contemptuously,  — 
the  whisperer,  the  meddler,  the  tale-bearer,  the 
busybody,  the  tattler,  and  the  mischief-maker. 
The  peacemaker  not  only  withstands  hate,  but 
positively  promotes  the  reign  of  love  among  men. 

The  peacemaker  plainly  renders  to  society  a- 
service  of  the  highest  value. 

"  They  that  have  been  persecuted  for  righteous- 
ness' sake"  include  the  noble  array  of  all  those 
who,  for  the  sake  of  the  promotion  of  righteous- 
ness and  truth  among  men,  have  been  willing  to 
endure  hardness,  to  face  the  trying  experience  of 
the  pioneer  in  every  realm,  to  give  the  one  incon- 
testable proof  of  love  that  is  found  in  sacrifice  and 
suffering.  It  is  no  virtue  for  the  lackadaisical,  the 
luxurious,  and  self-indulgent.  It  sounds  the  call 
to  heroic  service,  and  it  challenges  all  our  easy- 
going piety  with  its  uncompromising  questions  : 
Have  you  really  sacrificed  at  all.?  have  you  put 
yourself  out  anywhere  ?  have  you  really  stood  for 
your  convictions,  for  right,  and  purity,  and  truth, 
at  the  risk  of  some  unpopularity  ?  have  you  been 
in  any  sense  a  prophet.?  have  you  spoken  what 


THE   BASIC    QUALITIES    OF   LIFE  213 

God  gave  you  ?  have  there  been  at  least  the  thou- 
sand little  sacrifices  of  a  loving  heart,  of  a  con- 
stant thoughtfulness  ? 

How  poverty-stricken,  how  swept  clean  of  the 
best  that  life  holds,  would  that  world  be  in  which 
this  last  Beatitude  had  no  place. 

Plainly  these  are  all  basic  qualities.  Not  one 
can  be  spared  in  the  complete  character. 

Looking,  now,  at  the  Beatitudes  as  a  whole,  and  The  order 
as  a  sketch  of  the  highest  character,  Jesus  seemis  ^  ^^?  , 
to  have  intended  to  indicate  the  completeness  and 
unity  of  the  character  he  has  sketched  by  the  very 
order  of  the  Beatitudes.  For  myself,  the  perfec- 
tion of  the  grouping  and  of  the  order  seems,  in- 
deed, one  of  the  best  evidences  of  the  accuracy  of 
the  record. 

(2)  T/ie  Beatitudes  as  a  progress.  I  think  it 
not  fanciful  to  see  that  the  eight  Beatitudes  fall 
into  two  groups  of  four  each,  of  which  the  first 
group  is  personal,  treating  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  in  our  own  hearts ;  and  the  second  group, 
social,  dealing  with  the  Kingdom  in  our  relation  to 
others.  Moreover,  the  eight  taken  together  seem 
to  form  a  definite  progress,  each  quality  leading 
up  naturally  to  the  one  that  follows,  and  each  pre- 
supposing and  containing  in  itself,  in  a  way,  all 
that  have  preceded.  The  Beatitudes  as  a  prog- 
ress and  a  unity  may  be  thus  given : — 

Personal. 

1.  A  teachable  humility,     v.  3. 

2.  Genuine  penitence,     v.  4. 


214 


THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


Humility 
and  peni- 
tence. 


Self-control 
and  per- 
sistent pur- 
suit of 
righteous- 
ness. 


Sympathy 
and  rever- 
ence for  the 
person. 


3.  Self-control  at  its  highest  power,     v.  5. 

4.  A  persistent  eagerness  for  the  highest  character,     v.  6. 

Social. 

5.  Sympathy  with  men.     v.  7. 

6.  Deepest  reverence  toward  men.     v.  8. 

7.  Promoting  love  among  men.     v.  9. 

8.  Sacrificing  for  men.     vv.  10-12. 

A  teachable  humility  plainly  belongs  first.  It 
is  the  first  condition  of  all  possible  growth.  It  is 
that  spirit  of  the  little  child  without  which  one 
cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  righteousness  at  all. 
And  such  a  spirit  leads  most  naturally  to  peni- 
tence. And  a  true  penitence,  on  the  other  hand, 
involves  humility. 

So  meekness,  the  self-control  of  the  one  who 
maintains  himself  at  his  best  under  provocation, 
requires  as  its  chief  aids  the  humble  spirit  and 
the  penitent  spirit.  He  will  best  bear  with  others, 
who  best  knows  his  own  needs.  And,  on  the 
other  hand,  this  self-control  at  its  highest,  as  a 
root-virtue  of  all  virtues,  prepares  the  way,  there- 
fore, for  the  whole-souled  pursuit  of  righteous- 
ness, of  which  the  fourth  Beatitude  speaks.  And, 
again,  this  persistent  eagerness  for  the  highest 
character  implies  humility,  and  penitence,  and  self- 
control. 

And  all  these  personal  qualities  are  carried  over 
into  the  different  expressions  of  the  love  toward 
men  which  follow.  It  is  exactly  the  best,  we  have 
seen,  those  most  eager  for  high  attainment  in  char- 
acter themselves,  who  will  be  most  merciful,  most 


THE   BASIC   QUALITIES   OF   LIFE  21$ 

sympathetic  with  men.  And,  as  humility  is  the 
first  condition  of  personal  growth,  so  intelligent 
sympathy  with  others  is  the  first  condition  of  the 
true  social  life,  of  fine  personal  relations,  and  of 
influence  with  men.  The  blessing  upon  the  merci- 
ful, therefore,  properly  begins  the  group  of  social 
Beatitudes.  And,  because  the  earnestly  righteous 
man  must  be  sympathetic  with  men,  especially  in 
their  struggle  for  character,  he  will  stand  against 
the  two  great  foes  of  the  loving  life  —  lust  and 
anger;  and  in  true  purity  of  heart  be  reverent 
toward  men,  and  promote  love  among  men.  That 
reverence  for  the  person,  moreover,  which  is  in- 
volved in  purity  of  heart,  is  the  second  and  the 
greatest  condition  of  all  high  personal  relations, 
and  of  all  true  influence,  and'  naturally  stands  sec- 
ond, therefore,  in  these  basic  social  qualities.  At 
the  same  time,  it  demands  the  highest  righteous- 
ness in  that  relation  that  lies  at  the  very  basis  of 
society ;  and  itself  presupposes  and  requires  sym- 
pathy with  men. 

And,  once  more,  he  who  reverently  sees  in  each  Peace- 
man  a  child  of  God  must  seek  to  promote  peace  ^^  ^^' 
and  love  among  men.  He  can  do  no  less  than  to 
aim  to  secure  the  prevalence  of  his  own  spirit  of 
reverence,  which  saps  at  once  all  anger  and  jeal- 
ousy. Any  deep  and  permanent  peace-making  in- 
volves purity  in  heart. 

And,  finally,  he  who  is  in  earnest  in  promoting  Sacrificial 
the  reign  of  peace  and  love  among  men  must  be  ^°^^* 
prepared  to  sacrifice  for  men  —  to  face  suffering 


2l6  THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

and  persecution.  And  this  sacrificial  love  includes 
all  the  qualities  that  have  preceded,  and  builds 
upon  them,  and  is  itself  their  climax  and  final 
glorification.  We  know  nothing  higher  than  a 
courageous,  suffering,  sacrificial  love. 
Summary.  These,  then,  Jesus  seems  to  say,  are  the  basic 

qualities   of  character  :    teachable,  penitent,  self- 

1  controlled,  genuinely  earnest  in  the  pursuit  of  the 
highest,  sympathetic  with  men,  reverent  toward 
men,  promoting  love  among  men,  sacrificing  for 
men. 

2.  Happiness.  And  just  these  same  qualities 
Christ  believes  are  the  supreme  conditions  of  hap- 
piness as  well.  Indeed,  as  the  repeated  "  blessed  " 
implies,  he  seems  to  have  had  this  thought  first  of 
all  in  mind.  He  faced,  as  does  every  man,  a  code 
of  the  world,  that  runs  much  like  this :  — 
The  world's        Happy  are  the  proud,  for  theirs  is  this  world. 

Happy  are  the  unscrupulous,  for  they  shall 
need  no  comfort. 

Happy  are  those  who  claim  everything,  for  they 
shall  possess  the  earth. 

Happy  are  those  who  hold  back  from  no  sin,  for 
they  shall  drain  pleasure's  cup. 

Happy  are  the  tyrants,  for  they  need  no 
mercy. 

Happy  are  the  impure,  to  whose  lust  no  bound 
can  be  put,  for  they  shall  see  many  harlots. 

Happy  are  they  who  can  stir  anger  unhindered, 
whose  ambition  is  unchecked,  for  they  shall  be  as 
gods. 


code. 


THE    BASIC    QUALITIES    OF    LIFE  21/ 

Happy  are  they  who  have  never  sacrificed,  for 
theirs  is  all  the  world. 

And  over  against  these  judgments  of  the  world  Jesus' 
Jesus  sets  his  own,  in  which  he  deliberately  chal-  Jhr^^orid' 
lenges  and  reverses  every  statement  of  this  world's  code, 
code.     And   the  blessing  —  the   happiness  —  that 
he  promises,  in  each  case  grows  inevitably  out  of 
the  quality  named.     And  it  is  just  this  inevitable 
connection  that  is  here  to  be  considered. 

He  promises  the  highest  good  —  the  Kingdom  Humility 
of  God  1  —  to  the  humble,  not  to  the  proud.    For  no  ^^^^  ^j^"^'" 
good  can  be  finally  withheld  from  the  teachable,  happiness. 
since  he  possesses  the  prime  condition  of  growth, 
and  no  limits  can  be  set  to  his  attainment.     The 
growing  life  is  the  life  of  continuous  youth  and  of 
continuous  joy.     The  humble  is  open  to  the  best 
that  either  God  or  man  can  give.    Of  course,  then, 
potentially,  the   highest   good   is   already   his,  as 
Jesus  says. 

What  source  of  happiness  is  more  fundamental 
than  this  possibility  of  endless  progress  ?  And 
how  certainly  is  its  great  condition  this  single 
moral  quality  of  teachableness ! 

So,  too,  Jesus  is  confident  that  it  is  not  the  un-  Penitence 
scrupulous  and  the  conscienceless  to   whom   can  f.^  ^  ^°^^' 

^  ^  tion  of 

come  any  final  comfort.     To  lose  sensitiveness  of  happiness. 
conscience  is  to  lose,  at  the  same  time,  that  sensi- 
tiveness to  personal  relations  which  is  the  inevitable 
condition  of  all  the  finest  and  highest  happiness. 

1  Cf.  Votaw,  op.  cit.,  p.  1 6,  upon  the  blessings  of  Jesus  as  not 
merely  eschatological. 


2l8 


THE    ETHICS   OF   JESUS 


Meekness 
as  a  condi- 
tion of 
happiness. 
Reasons. 


It  shuts  one  out  inviolably  from  the  best  joys  of 
the  two  greatest  sources  of  happiness  —  work  and 
friendship.  Jesus  knows  that  men  are  made  on 
too  large  a  plan  to  be  really  satisfied  with  an  im- 
penitent life.  They  are  made  for  personal  rela- 
tions, made  for  love,  made  for  work  that  is  service ; 
and  the  soul  that  has  no  sorrow  for  its  sins  against 
love  is  shut  out  by  flaming  swords  from  any  true 
paradise.  The  penitent  alone  shall  be  really  com- 
forted—  comforted  with  the  only  true  comfort  of 
the  assurance  of  steady  progress  into  that  char- 
acter whose  lack  they  mourn.  The  conscienceless 
man  must  live  the  life  of  a  being  continually  baffled 
of  the  end  for  which  it  was  made. 

The  penitent  spirit,  the  sensitive  conscience,  is 
an  indispensable  condition  of  the  finest  joys  that 
the  life  of  man  affords. 

To  the  meek  —  those  who  in  self-control  main- 
tain themselves  at  their  best,  even  under  provo- 
cation—  Jesus  promises  that  they  shall  inherit 
the  earth.  Beginning  as  a  **  popular  phrase  of  the 
Hebrew  covenant  conception,"  **  after  the  Israel- 
ites had  come  into  possession  of  Canaan,  the 
conception  was  enlarged,  and  the  phrase  became 
figuratively  used  to  designate  an  anticipated  mate- 
rial, moral,  and  spiritual  supremacy  of  the  people  of 
God  on  the  earth."  ^  Aside  then  from  the  religious 
hopes  of  a  future  life  or  new  Messianic  age,  from 
the  ethical  point  of  view,  there  is  here  the  promise, 
I  suppose,  that  the  meek  shall  really  get  the  most 
1  Vet  aw,  op.  cit.t  p.  19. 


THE    BASIC    QUALITIES    OF   LIFE  219 

out  of  life  now  and  here.  He  commends  the 
quality  as  the  one  royal  road  to  the  best  enjoy- 
ment of  life,  even  as  it  passes.  And  this,  I 
suppose,  for  several  reasons.  In  the  first  place, 
because  humility  and  penitence,  the  implications 
of  meekness,  and  the  spirit  that  refuses  to  make 
extravagant  claims  for  self,  themselves  remove  the 
chief  sources  of  unrest  and  discontent;  for,  as 
Drummond  says,  "wounded  vanity,  disappointed 
hopes,  unsatisfied  selfishness,  these  are  the  old 
vulgar  universal  sources  of  man's  unrest."  Now 
these  causes  the  spirit  of  meekness  attacks  at  the 
root,  and  therefore  tends  naturally  to  give  one 
some  real  opportunity  for  peace  and  joy. 

Moreover,  the  spirit  of  meekness  with  its  im- 
plied humility,  because  it  carries  with  it  a  modest 
estimate  of  self,  escapes  the  feeling  of  being  con- 
stantly slighted  and  offended.  As  it  does  not  feel 
that  everything  is  due  to  it,  so  it  is  content  and 
cheerful,  where  pride  and  assumption  would  be 
only  miserable.  And  such  a  spirit  gets  far  more 
out  of  life.  Reducing  our  pretensions  is  good 
counsel  for  cheerfulness.  We  may  learn  to  be 
content. 

And,  as  modest  and  free  from  the  envious  spirit, 
the  meek  are  able  also  to  enter  into  the  joy  of 
others,  and  so  to  share  in  a  very  real  sense  in  all 
joy.     They  own  the  world,  as  only  such  spirits  can. 

The  spirit  of  meekness,  too,  has  a  natural  effect 
on  others  also.  In  the  case  of  those  who  claim 
everything  for  themselves,  others  naturally  oppose ; 


220 


THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 


Thirst  for 
character 
as  a  condi- 
tion of 
happiness. 


but  one  gives  gladly  to  the  meek.  They  readily 
secure  the  good-will  of  all,  and  so  come  easily  and 
naturally  into  the  best  of  life. 

Moreover,  as  self-control  even  under  provocation, 
meekness  has  a  very  real  contribution  to  make  to 
the  enjoyment  of  life.  He  rules  all  who  rules 
himself.  He  has  himself  always  in  hand,  and 
therefore  loses  no  opportunity ;  he  can  continually 
sacrifice  the  lower  to  the  higher,  the  temporary  to 
the  permanent,  and  so  find  life  meaning  ever  more 
and  more  to  him.  The  largest  inheritance  cannot 
help  being  his.  The  best  things  in  life  are  always 
only  for  the  self-controlled.  There  is  no  possibil- 
ity of  the  highest  attainment  anywhere  along  any 
line  without  self-control. 

And,  once  more,  meekness  gets  the  most  out  of 
life  in  still  another  sense.  It  inevitably  deepens 
the  inner  life  of  the  man  himself.  Holding  one- 
self perpetually  at  one's  highest,  in  one's  strongest 
mood,  carries  sure  results  in  the  self,  in  a  steady 
deepening  of  the  significance  of  life.  Surely  the 
meek  shall  inherit  the  earth.  They  get  the  most 
out  of  life  even  now  and  here. 

Meekness,  doubtless,  is  a  fundamental  condition 
of  happiness. 

Those  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness, 
Jesus  pronounces  blessed,  because  they  shall  be" 
filled, — filled  with  that  for  which  they  hunger, — 
genuine  righteousness.  They  shall  share  the  char- 
acter and  so  the  life  of  God.  Jesus  evidently 
counts  God's  life  as  the  life  of  highest  blessedness 


THE   BASIC    QUALITIES   OF   LIFE  221 

as  well  as  of  character;  and  he  cannot  conceive 
how  any  one  can  come,  therefore,  into  the  highest 
blessedness  without  coming  at  the  same  time  into 
character.  The  promise  here,  then,  is  not  merely 
some  substitute  for  righteousness,  some  makeshift 
for  it,  some  simply  treating  a  man  as  if  he  were 
righteous,  but  by  the  divine  co-working,  the  mak- 
ing of  him  righteous.  The  insatiable  thirst  for 
character  shall  be  quenched.  He  who  has  this 
eager  positive  desire  cannot  be  satisfied  without 
real  character.  Not  what  men  think  him,  but  what 
he  is  troubles  him.  Is  it  tolerable  to  one  that  he 
should  be  proud,  impenitent,  contemptuous,  cen- 
sorious, without  self-control,  false,  impure,  and 
unloving }  Is  his  deepest  ambition  the  ambition 
for  righteousness.?  God  will  not  fail  him.  He 
shall  be  filled.  It  is  the  deadhest  of  all  revelations 
of  character,  on  the  other  hand,  that  one  does  not 
care  for  the  best.  And  that  means  that  he  has 
definitely  given  up  the  highest  end  for  which  he 
was  made  ;  he  has  strayed  from  his  orbit ;  he  is 
fundamentally  out  of  harmony  with  the  aims  of 
the  universe  in  which  he  is ;  he  is  at  ceaseless 
war  with  God's  own  purpose  of  love.  He  has, 
therefore,  made  any  deep  and  abiding  happiness 
impossible. 

The  deepest  condition  of  happiness  is  the  eager 
persistent  pursuit  of  character. 

And  the  merciful  shall  obtain  mercy  —  of  God  Mercy  as 
and   of   men.     "With   what  measure  ye  mete,  it  ^^o'''^'-''''' 

J  '  of  happiness 

shall  be  measured  unto  you."     It  is  the  unjust  and  Reasons. 


222  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

the  unmerciful  that  provoke  retaliation.  The  very 
bearing  of  the  hard  man  calls  out  hardness.  He 
does  not  even  know  how  to  make  a  gracious 
appeal  for  sympathy.  We  speak  literally  of  such 
a  one  when  we  say,  "  He  does  not  appeal  to  me." 
On  the  other  hand,  the  habitual  mood  and  man- 
ner of  the  sympathetic  win ;  they  get  mercy.  He 
who  has  habitually  entered  with  real  sympathy 
into  the  life  of  others  will  not  be  left  alone  at  the 
end.  One  may  be  admired,  envied,  deferred  to, 
feared ;  but  if  he  has  been  unmerciful,  his  doom  is 
coming ;  even  by  men  he  will  be  left  in  the  dread- 
ful loneliness  of  the  selfish  life.  He  will  seek  for 
mercy  and  not  find  it.  He  has  cut  the  bonds  that 
bind  him  to  men.  He  abides  alone.  Brilliant, 
selfish,  hard,  scheming  men  get  their  reward  even 
here.  They  have  made  impossible  the  best  gifts 
of  friendship  —  the  surest  source  of  happiness. 

And  the  unmerciful  spirit  works  an  even  greater 
damage  to  the  inner  man.  The  fundamentally 
unmerciful  are  scarcely  able  to  understand,  to 
believe  in,  or  to  receive  mercy,  even  of  God. 
"  Blessed  are  the  merciful ;  for  they  shall  obtain 
mercy  "  —  of  men,  of  God. 

It  is  a  practically  universal  law:  men  tend  to 
respond  in  like  coin  to  what  you  bring  —  mercy 
with  mercy,  frankness  with  frankness,  deceit  with 
deceit,  distrust  with  distrust,  insistence  on  legal 
rights  with  the  same. 

"  Be  noble  !  and  the  nobleness  that  lies 
In  other  men,  sleeping,  but  never  dead, 


THE   BASIC    QUALITIES    OF    LIFE  223 

Will  rise  in  majesty  to  meet  thine  own ; 
Then  wilt  thou  see  it  gleam  in  many  eyes, 
Then  will  pure  light  around  thy  path  be  shed 
And  thou  wilt  nevermore  be  sad  and  lone." 

And  the  blessing  of  mercy  has  a  yet  deeper 
root.  Man  is  made  for  personal  relations.  When 
he  refuses  that  sympathy,  without  which  personal 
relations  can  never  deepen,  he  shuts  the  door  upon 
happiness.  He  cannot  be  happy  in  hard  lack  of 
sympathy. 

Mercy  is  a  prime  condition  of  happiness. 

The  blessing  of  the  pure  in  heart  is  the  vision  Purity  in 
of  God  —  in  ethical  terms,  the  deepest  and  com-  conditSn^ 
pletest  revelation  of  personality.     And  to  see  God,  of  happiness. 
Jesus  is  sure,  means  great  joy.     Our  highest  joy 
is  always  joy  in  personal  Hfe ;  and  the  more  rich 
and  significant  the  personality,  the  greater  the  gift 
to  Hfe  which  the  revelation  of  that  personality  has 
to  make.     He  who  gets  the  vision  of  the  riches  of 
the  life  of  God  has,  therefore,  unfathomable   re- 
sources of  joy.     And  just  this,  Jesus  insists,  is  the 
happiness  of  the  pure  in  heart. 

Now  it  is  no  random  promise  which  Jesus  so  Reverence 
makes.  The  connection  between  the  quality  and  p^g^g/ 
the  promised  blessing  is  close  and  inevitable. 
Reverence  for  the  person  against  strong  passion 
naturally  leads  to  the  higher  reverence  to  which 
God  reveals  himself.  For  all  reverence  is  really 
of  a  piece ;  since  to  see  and  recognize  God  in  men 
ought  naturally  to  give  power  to  see  God  in  him- 
self.    To  be  pure  in  heart,  therefore,  is  to  see  God. 


224  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

Deep  Jesus'  fundamental  teaching  of  the  fatherhood 

onT^toThe  ^^  ^^^  brings  us  to  the  same  result.  For  this 
reverent.  means  that  God  desires  to  reveal  himself  as  fully 
as  possible  to  men,  and  waits  only  for  the  capacity 
of  vision  in  men.  But  the  completest  and  deepest 
revelation  of  personality  —  human  or  divine  —  can 
be  made  only  to  the  reverent.  You  do  not  reveal 
your  best  and  hoHest  to  the  profane,  to  the  scorn- 
ful, to  the  heedless — to  the  irreverent.  If  you 
tried  to  do  so,  he  could  not  receive  it.  The  real 
meaning  of  the  revelation  lies  quite  beyond  him. 
It  is  on  this  account,  therefore,  that  Jesus  must 
say,  "  Cast  not  your  pearls  before  swine.'*  To  the 
reverent,  then,  shall  be  peculiarly  given  the  vision 
of  God.  And  reverence  is  found  at  its  highest 
only  in  the  pure  in  heart.  "The  secret  of  the 
Lord  is  with  them  that  fear  him." 
The  way  to  Would  One  sce  God  ?  Men  have  talked  much 
of  the  "  beatific  vision,"  and  have  had  many  coun- 
sels for  attaining  seraphic  experiences,  and  visions 
of  God.  Jesus  seems  to  say,  The  way  is  nigh  thee, 
at  thy  very  hand.  Say  not.  Who  shall  ascend  into 
heaven,  or  descend  into  the  deep  ?  Only  he  pure; 
recognize  the  child  of  God  in  every  soul,  and  treat 
accordingly,  not  as  a  thing,  but  as  a  person.  What 
nearness  to  God  in  such  a  victory !  You  shall  see 
me,  Jesus  seems  to  say,  —  right  there,  you  shall 
find  me.  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  unto  one  of 
these,  my  brethren,  even  these  least,  ye  did  it  unto 
me."  And,  **  He  that  receiveth  me  receiveth  him 
that  sent  me."     How  quickly  and  inevitably  a  little 


God. 


THE    BASIC    QUALITIES    OF    LIFE  225 

impurity  clouds  our  vision  of  God.  Reverence  is 
our  window  manward,  Godward ;  impurity  clouds 
it.  This  is,  then,  no  chance  connection.  God 
reveals  himself  to  the  reverent  soul,  and  most  of 
all  to  that  soul  that  is  reverent  throughout  and 
under  the  severest  pressure.  Be  right  with  men 
and  you  shall  find  God.  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in 
heart :  for  they  shall  see  God."  From  the  point 
of  view  of  the  ethical,  this  is  a  promise  that  the 
spirit  of  purity,  as  Jesus  conceives  it,  is  able  to 
bring  into  life  in  peculiar  degree  the  deep  sense 
of  the  unity  and  harmony  of  life. 

Purity   in  heart  is  fundamental  to  the  highest 
happiness. 

To  the  peacemaker  Jesus  promises  the  happi-  Promoting 
ness  of  being  recognized  as  the  children  of  God ;  ^Q^^^tj^^^ 
in  ethical  terms,  as  belonging  to  the  highest  in  of  happiness, 
character  and  life.  Naturally  so  ;  for  the  work  of 
promoting  peace  and  love  among  men  is  the  very 
work  of  God  himself.  Those  who  enter  preemi- 
nently into  that  work,  share  in  God's  own  joy  of 
giving,  and  not  merely  receiving;  they  enter  as 
sons  into  the  work  and  joy  of  the  Father.  Surely, 
they  shall  be,  and  be  called,  sons  of  God.  Steadily 
there  shall  deepen  for  them  the  sense  of  their  kin- 
ship with  God,  the  high  meaning  of  this  highest 
personal  relation.  As  they  enter  more  and  more 
into  God's  loving  purpose  for  men,  —  into  the 
work  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  their  own  sense  of  his 
love  shall  strengthen  and  the  joy  of  the  full  con- 
sciousness of  sonship  be  theirs.     And  they  shall 

Q 


226  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

have  the  added  joy,  that  men  will  increasingly  rec- 
ognize their  spirit  and  call  them  children  of  God. 
The  unselfish,  peace-making  life  shaJ  not  be  per- 
manently misunderstood. 

The  work  of  the  peacemaker  is  a  clear  road  to 
happiness. 
Sacrificial  And  Jcsus  IS  not  afraid  to  face,  even  from  the 

condi^on  point  of  vicw  of  happiness,  the  quality  called  for 
of  happiness,  in  the  last  Beatitude.  In  unfaltering  tones  he  says  : 
"  Blessed  are  they  that  have  been  persecuted  for 
righteousness'  sake :  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."  He  knows  that  men  are  made  for  love 
and  for  high  action  —  for  heroic  service ;  and  that 
they  cannot  be  really  satisfied  with  less.  Unhesi- 
tatingly, therefore,  he  appeals  to  the  experience 
of  the  prophets,  and  he  rings  out  to  men  the  chal- 
lenge of  his  own  heroic  call  —  to  take  up  the 
cross  and  follow  him.  "  The  cup  that  I  drink  ye 
shall  drink."  And  like  him,  his  disciples  must 
be  able  to  "  take  the  cup  and  give  thanks."  Blind- 
ing himself  in  no  way  to  the  sins  of  men,  no  re- 
ligious teacher  ever  believed  so  much  in  the  essen- 
tial possibihties  and  glory  of  men.  There  is 
no  slightest  trace  of  cynicism  in  him.  He  calls 
to  courageous  self-sacrifice,  and  yet  expects  loyal, 
enthusiastic  following.  He  knows,  as  Hinton 
puts  it,  that  "all  pains  may  be  summed  up  in 
sacrifice,  and  sacrifice  is  the  instrument  of  joy." 
As  George  Eliot  says,  "We  can  indeed  only 
have  the  highest  happiness,  such  as  goes  with 
being  a  great  man,  by  having  wide  thoughts  and 


THE   BASIC    QUALITIES   OF   LIFE  22/ 

much  feeling  for  the  rest  of  the  world  as  well  as 
ourselves ;  and  this  sort  of  happiness  often  brings 
so  much  pain  with  it,  that  we  can  only  tell  it  from 
pain  by  its  being  what  we  should  choose  above 
everything."  This  is  only  part  of  that  great 
paradox  of  life  which  Jesus  so  plainly  saw :  He 
who  would  save  his  life  must  lose  it.  **  Except  a 
grain  of  wheat  fall  into  the  earth  and  die,  it 
abideth  by  itself  alone." 

No  wonder  that  Jesus  promises  to  this  coura-  sharing 
geous,  suffering,  self-sacrificing  love,  the  Kingdom  ^°^'®  ^^^' 
of  Heaven,  not  merely  potentially,  as  to  the  hum- 
ble, but  actually.  Joyful,  self-sacrificing  love  ^as 
the  kingdom,  already  possesses  it  in  its  own  heart. 
Love  is  the  supreme  gift,  and  includes  all  else. 
It  is  life  at  its  highest,  God's  own  life,  "  the  life 
that  is  life  indeed."  It  never  fails.  This  is  the  one 
eternal  thing.  To  such,  Christ  must  say,  "  Come 
ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  pre- 
pared for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world." 
The  best,  the  eternal  best,  belongs  to  love,  is  love. 
"  Blessed  are  they  that  have  been  persecuted  for 
righteousness'  sake :  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,"  —  the  highest  good.  They  share,  as  no 
others  can,  the  full  inner  depth  of  the  very  mean- 
ing of  the  life  and  joy  of  God. 

Sacrificial  love  is  the  highest  condition  of  happi-  The 
ness.  qj^^Jjt^^^ 

of  the 

In  all  this,  Jesus  does  not  play  with  the  prob-  Beatitudes 
lem  of  human  happiness.  He  loves  men  ;  and  ^on^^tfo^s 
he  loves  them  too   much  to   wish  to  cheat  them  of  happiness. 


228 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


The 
qualities 
of  the 
Beatitudes 
the  natural 
conditions 
for  influence. 


The  in- 
fluence of 
the  joyous 
life. 


with  husks.  He  knows  well  that  he  who  would 
make  men  deeply  and  permanently  happy,  cannot 
stop  on  the  surface,  as  most  pleasure-seekers  and 
pleasure-makers  do,  but  must  pierce  deeply  to  the 
heart  of  man's  being,  must  see  how  great  he  is, 
and  satisfy  the  greatest  in  him.  The  conditions 
of  happiness,  therefore,  which  he  prescribes,  are 
fundamental  and  thoroughgoing.  Here,  in  the 
Beatitudes,  are  the  great  conditions  of  happiness 
of  life.  These  qualities  are  the  inevitable  con- 
ditions of  growth,  and  of  the  highest  work  and 
of  the  highest  friendship ;  and  these  alone  insure 
happiness. 

3.  Influence.  And  here,  not  less,  are  the  prime 
conditions  of  influence.  For  these  qualities  are, 
in  the  first  place,  the  natural  conditions  for  affect- 
ing others.  The  open-minded  man,  who  is  known 
to  be  without  prejudice  or  one-sidedness,  natu- 
rally carries  special  weight  with  others.  And  a 
modest  sense  of  one's  own  defects  disarms  opposi- 
tion and  makes  possible  a  service  to  others  that 
would  be  denied  to  self-conceit.  He  will  most  cer- 
tainly rule  others  who  in  severe  self-mastery  has 
himself  in  hand.  The  earnestness  of  the  eager 
pursuit  of  righteousness  carries  conviction.  Intel- 
ligent sympathy  and  a  real  respect  for  the  person 
of  another,  the  evident  seeking  of  his  good,  and 
willingness  to  sacrifice  for  it,  make  your  influence 
with  him  absolutely  certain. 

As  the  great  conditions  of  happiness,  too,  these 
qualities  inevitably  count  with  others.     Happiness 


THE   BASIC    QUALITIES    OF    LIFE  229 

itself  attracts,  wins,  weighs  with  men.  And  that 
man,  that  by  his  joy  shows  that  he  is  living  the 
true,  normal,  harmonious  life,  cannot  help  being 
strongly  influential. 

But  when  Jesus  declares  that  those  who  have  The  con- 
these  qualities  of  the  Beatitudes  shall  be  the  salt  ^e^goo*d 
of  the  earth  and  the  light  of  the  world,  he  is 
thinking,  of  course,  of  influence  for  good,  influence 
in  bringing  on  that  great  coming  civilization  of 
brotherly  men,  upon  which  he  has  set  his  heart. 
Here,  obviously,  those  shall  count  most  who 
already,  in  their  characters,  belong  to  that  civili- 
zation. Character  comes  by  contagion.  We  must 
be  what  we  would  have  others  become.  Every  such 
man  as  Jesus  describes  in  the  Beatitudes  is  a  liv- 
ing seed  of  the  coming  civilization  of  brotherly  men. 

And  the  men  of  these  qualities  count,  besides,  work  for 
because  these  qualities  involve  work,  immediate  ^^^^^^s- 
and  direct,  for  that  coming  civilization.  Every 
stroke  by  such  men  counts  in  the  upbuilding  of 
the  true  society.  They  are  not  dreaming  of  the 
goal,  or  longing  for  the  goal  merely.  Promoting 
peace  among  men,  and  sacrificing  for  men,  they 
are  steadily  making  the  goal  more  certain.  Here 
in  the  Beatitudes,  then,  are  to  be  found  the  su- 
preme conditions  of  influence  also. 

Character,  happiness,    influence  —  these    make  Summary, 
life.     And  their  prime  conditions  Jesus  has  named 
in   the    Beatitudes.     Here,   then,  indeed,  are  our 
map  of  life,  our  chart,  our  sailing  orders,  even  in 
the  purely  ethical  sphere. 


230 


THE  ETHICS   OF  JESUS 


Character. 


Happiness. 


Influence. 


In  the  Beatitudes,  therefore,  Jesus  is  virtually 
saying  to  the  "  disciple  multitude  "  before  him :  I 
wish  you,  first  and  most  of  all,  character.  These 
qualities  which  I  have  named  are  the  really  basic 
qualities  of  character.  They  are  not  popular  vir- 
tues ;  the  world  has  hardly  counted  them  virtues  at 
all ;  and  they  will  still  be  regarded  by  many  even 
of  my  professed  disciples  as  rather  subsidiary  and 
only  "passive."  Nevertheless  are  they  essential 
and  absolutely  basic.     I  wish  you  character. 

And  I  wish  you  joy.  Not  carelessly,  as  those 
who  know  not  what  they  wish !  But  fully,  know- 
ing what  it  costs,  I  wish  you  joy  —  the  best,  the 
largest,  the  richest,  the  deepest  joy  that  life  can 
give.  And  I  wish  it  though  I  know  that,  in  my 
wish,  I  am  really  praying  that  God  would  deepen 
in  you  humility,  and  penitence,  and  self-control, 
and  undying  earnestness,  and  sympathy,  and  pu- 
rity, and  the  spirit  of  reconciliation  and  of  coura- 
geous self-sacrifice.  Because  I  covet  for  you  the 
best,  I  wish  you  joy  —  joy  of  growth,  joy  of  self- 
conquest,  joy  of  friendship,  joy  of  service,  joy  of 
sacrifice,  joy  of  God. 

And  I  wish  you  influence,  that  you  may  count. 
The  steady  oncoming  of  the  civilization  of  brotherly 
men  demands  in  its  leaders  just  these  qualities  of 
which  I  have  spoken.  Ye  know  that  the  rulers  of 
the  Gentiles  lord  it  over  them,  and  their  great  ones 
exercise  authority  over  them.  Not  so  shall  it  be 
among  you ;  but  whosoever  would  become  great 
among  you  shall  be  your  minister,  and  whosoever 


THE   BASIC   QUALITIES   OF   LIFE  23 1 

would  be  first  among  you  shall  be  your  servant; 
even  as  the  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered 
unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom 
for  many.  Knowing  the  cost  of  leadership,  I  wish 
for  you  influence  —  that  you  may  count. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  GREAT  MOTIVES  TO  LIVING,  IN  THE  SERMON 
ON  THE  MOUNT. 

Even  in  the  study  of  the  Beatitudes,  as  the  out- 
lines of  the  Sermon  themselves  suggest,  we  have 
been  dealing  implicitly  with  the  principles  of  the 
entire  Sermon.  But  those  principles  come  out 
still  more  plainly  in  a  study  of  the  motives  to 
living,  which  Jesus  here  points  out. 
The  uiti-  If  Jesus  is  right  in  his  insistence  on  love  —  un- 

mate  prob-  selfish  friendship  —  as  the  one  indispensable  thing 
in  life,  then  for  individual  and  for  national  life,  for 
character  and  for  social  service,  for  ethics  and  for 
religion,  for  the  earthly  life  and  for  the  eternal 
outlook,  the  ultimate  problem  for  every  man  is 
simply  the  problem  of  learning  to  live  the  life  of 
a  genuine,  intelligent,  thoroughgoing  love.  No 
deeper,  no  more  difficult,  no  more  significant  task 
anywhere  confronts  us.  This  is  our  ultimate 
problem  in  living,  to  which  we  must  ever  return. 
And  the  true  final  examination,  in  the  thought  of 
Jesus,  in  any  education  for  life  has  just  one  ques- 
tion: How  much  does  a  person  mean  to  you  ?  have 
you  learned  really  to  be  a  good  friend  ? 
luh  ^ofthe  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^  might  believe,  and  yet  be  entirely 
problem.        hopeless  in  view  of  it.     It  too  often  seems  to  us 

232 


\ 


THE   GREAT    MOTIVES    TO    LIVING  233 

men  that  the  one  thing  we  cannot  do  is  to  rise  to 
an  impartial  and  unselfish  love  of  men.  What  is 
the  actual  practical  way  out  of  suspicion,  and 
meanness,  and  envy,  and  jealousy,  and  malice, 
and  slander,  and  hate,  and  lust,  into  friendship  and 
brotherliness  ?  Who  can  show  it  ?  Who  can  make 
us  able  to  tread  it  ? 

Now  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  Jesus  faced  Jesus' 

just  this  problem  for  all  men,  as  it  had  never  been  ^°  ^^^°^' 

faced   before.     And   his  vigorous  grappling  with 

the  /ww  of  love  mightily  concerns  us  all.     It  is  not 

the  hardness,  but  the  possibility  and  the  way  of 

the  loving  life,  which   he  is  constrained   here   to 

bring  out.     After  defining  the  elements  of  a  true 

love  in  the  Beatitudes,  Jesus  goes  on  to  use  with 

men,   more   or  less   definitely,  four  great  motives 

to  the  loving  life,  that   he  believed  were  able  to 

drive  out  hate  (5  :  21-26),  and  lust  (5  :  27-32),  and 

falsity  (5  :  33-37),  and  retaliation  (5  :  38-42),  and 

i    Pharisaic  righteousness  (6  : 1-18),  and  the  spirit  of 

\   contempt  (7 :  1-12),  and  to  bring  in  a  true  and  all- 

*    comprehending  love.     He  appeals,  that  is,  (i)  to 

the  principle  of  the  unity  of  the  inner  life,  (2)  to 

his   own   thought  of    the   fulfillment  of  the  law, 

'(3)  to  the  fact  that  every  man  is  a  brother,  and 

(4)  to  the  further  fact  that  God  is  Father. 

Three  of   these  motives   correspond    closely  to  The 
the  main  divisions  of  the  Sermon   in  its  charac-  "^°*V^^!  ?^ 

i  ^  the  divisions 

terization  of  the  righteousness  of  the  new  civiliza-  of  the 
tion:  as  an  inner  fulfillment  of  the  law — the  motive  ^^™°^- 
of  fulfilling;    as  a  secret  righteousness   unto  the 


234 


THE   ETHICS   OF  JESUS 


Are  the 
motives 
adequate  ? 


The  central 
motive,  God 
as  Father. 


Jesus' 
putting  of 
the  principle. 


Father  —  the  motive,  "thy  Father";  and  as  the 
righteousness  of  a  sacred  reverence  for  the  person 
—  the  motive,  "  thy  brother "  ;  though  no  one  of 
these  thoughts  is  confined  to  any  one  of  the  sec- 
tions. The  fourth  motive  —  the  unity  of  the  inner 
life  —  lies  back  of  the  entire  Sermon,  as  a  constant 
law  of  man's  nature,  often  appealed  to  by  Jesus, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  and  here  several  times 
explicitly  repeated. 

Are  these  motives  adequate.?  Have  they  real 
power  to  save  to  the  genuinely  friendly  life  ?  Let 
us  not  hesitate  to  see  the  matter  through.  We 
may  test  thus,  practically,  the  ethics  of  Jesus  as 
in  no  other  way. 

These  motives,  no  doubt,  are  all  involved  in  the 
one  great  central  motive  and  message  of  Jesus  — 
God  as  Father,  the  ethical  conviction  of  love  at  the 
heart  of  the  world.  And  still  each  has  a  certain 
independent  force  that  deserves  separate  recogni- 
tion. 

I.    T/ie  unity  of  the  inner  life 

And,  first,  Jesus  appeals,  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  again  and  again  to  that  principle  which  is 
one  of  the  main  contentions  of  modern  psychology, 
the  unity  of  our  life.  Both  the  keeping  and  the 
transgression  of  the  law,  in  Jesus'  thought,  tend 
to  a  consistent  unity ;  "  one  of  these  least  com- 
mandments "  is  vital  (5  :  19).  The  contemptuous, 
the  condemnatory,  and  the  angry  spirit  are  all  of 
a  piece  and  must  have  their  full  logical  results 
(5 :  22,  26).    The  evil  of  the  stumbling  member 


THE   GREAT   MOTIVES   TO   LIVING  235 

is  SO  sure  to  permeate  the  whole,  that  life  can  be 
kept  at  all  only  by  the  resolute  cutting  off  of  the 
evil  (5  :  29-30).  So  dominant  is  this  principle  of 
the  unity  in  the  life,  that  danger  lurks  in  all 
speech,  even,  that  is  not  simple,  direct,  accurate, 
and  genuine  (5:37).  No  aim,  indeed,  is  really 
safe  but  the  harmonious  perfection  of  the  Father's 
life  (5  :  48).  The  true  reward  of  righteous  char- 
acter is  that  inner  inevitable  recompense  not  seen 
of  men,  but  given  by  "the  Father  that  seeth  in 
secret"  (6:1,  4,  6).  Unless  there  is  singleness 
of  vision,  the  whole  life  is  darkened ;  the  impos- 
sible double  service  of  "  two  masters  "  is  attempted 
(6 :  22-24).  There  can  be,  too,  no  reliable  moral 
insight  into  another,  where  evil  is  cherished ;  the 
cherished  evil  is  a  beam  in  the  eye  (7 :  5).  One 
single  principle  of  consistent  putting  yourself  in 
the  other's  place  would  fulfill  all  righteousness 
(7:12).     It   is   a   narrow  way  that  leads   to   life 

(7:13-14). 

Even  so,  repeatedly,  Jesus  uses  with  men,  in  this  The  unity 
part  of  his  teaching,  this  principle  of  the  unity  J^g^^^^^^ig 
of  the  inner  life.  The  whole  inner  life  is  a  unity  ; 
it  is  all  of  a  piece.  No  part  of  the  life  can  go  up 
or  down  alone.  Good  or  evil  cherished  anywhere 
tends  to  permeate  the  whole.  There  is  no  possible 
stopping  of  this  inner  consequence.  Every  sin  is 
thus  its  own  worst  punishment,  it  tends  to  repro- 
duce its  kind ;  so,  too,  every  bit  of  righteousness  is 
its  own  best  reward.  In  the  fight  for  character  we 
are  not,  therefore,  embracing  or  rejecting  things 


236 


THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 


No  double 

standard 

possible. 


All  love  a 
seed  of  life. 


laid  on  miscellaneously  and  from  without,  but  re- 
ceiving in  ourselves  the  simple,  inevitable,  logical 
consequences  of  our  own  choices. 

Every  intelligent  observer  of  his  own  life  knows 
that  he  cannot  consciously  fall  below  his  best  at 
any  point,  and  not  invite  a  moral  slump  all  along 
the  line.  On  the  other  hand,  how  certainly  the 
will,  thoroughly  aroused  at  one  point,  is  strength- 
ened at  every  point  of  attack!  Or,  we  may  say 
that  if,  according  to  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  only  love 
is  life,  and  if  man  is  made  for  love,  then  every  bit 
of  hate  in  me  works  for  death  ;  every  bit  of  love 
works  for  life.  When,  then,  our  ideals  and  aims 
are  at  their  lowest,  when  we  can  hardly  conceive 
that  God  is  Father,  or  that  man  is  brother,  then 
still  we  can  say,  "  Let  me  not  die ;  my  life  is  a 
unit,  and  love  is  life  and  hate  is  death ;  let  me 
learn  to  love  for  my  very  life's  sake."  Upon  this 
principle  of  the  unity  of  our  life,  then,  the  ineradi- 
cable and  insatiable  love  of  life  itself  drives  men 
forward  into  the  life  of  love. 

For,  on  the  one  hand,  I  am  compelled  to  see 
that,  however  injured  I  have  been,  however  de- 
served the  other's  punishment,  still  suspicion  and 
contempt  and  hate  are  the  very  working  of  death 
in  me.  This  other  may  have  acted  most  un- 
worthily ;  at  least,  I  must  not  allow  his  ignoble 
spirit  to  provoke  me  into  a  like  unworthiness ;  that 
would  be  injury  indeed.  And  this  holds  for  races 
and  classes  as  well  as  for  individuals.  The  race 
that  hates   is   punished  far   more   than  the  race 


THE    GREAT   MOTIVES   TO   LIVING  23/ 

hated.  We  are  failing  in  the  very  end  of  our  own 
being,  when  we  allow  the  spirit  contrary  to  love. 
Every  bit  of  hate  counts  for  death,  and  must  there- 
fore be  resolutely  cut  out  at  any  cost,  like  an  eat- 
ing cancer.  On  the  other  hand,  every  bit  of  true 
love  counts  for  good.  To  be  a  good  son,  a  good 
brother,  a  good  husband,  a  good  father,  a  good 
friend,  a  good  neighbor,  a  good  citizen,  —  these 
are  the  great  homely  ways  of  life,  and  are  seeds  of 
life,  and  themselves  enlargements  of  life.  How  a 
single,  honest,  unselfish  kindness  to  another  tends 
to  reproduce  itself,  irradiates  the  day,  and  makes 
every  righteous  impulse  more  natural  and  easy ! 

Men  are  prone  enough  to  deny  this  strenuous  The  de- 
principle  of  Jesus,  of  the  unity  of  life,  and  to  say  ^^sfsten^c 
to  themselves  :  "  We  can  fail  here  and  it  will  make 
no  difference  yonder.  We  can  be  cowardly  and 
vacillating  here  and  still  equally  brave  and  decisive 
elsewhere.  We  may  fall  below  the  highest  in  our 
love  now,  and  find  it  meaning  the  same  afterward. 
We  can  be  impure,  and  still  leave  our  honesty 
unaffected.  We  can  be  false,  and  still  be  pure." 
But  we  cannot.  And  the  severity  and  strictness  of 
Jesus'  demands  are  only  calls  for  a  completer, 
more  perfect  love,  that  is,  for  completer  life. 
These  demands  only  voice  Jesus'  deep  conviction, 
that  the  very  nature  of  man  calls  for  a  thorough- 
going consistency  in  the  inner  life. 

TT  T7    1J:J1  *  Jesus'  USC 

II.    fulfillment  of  this 

The  same  principle  of  unity  in  the  life,  thus,   Principle 

11  1  \  r         -r  ,  in    the 

leads    naturally  to    the    second    of    Jesus    great  sermon. 


238  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

motives,  to  emphasis  on  thoroughness^  carrying  the 
right  course  fully  through  to  the  end,  to  its  full 
fruit.  One  mvist  Jill  full  thQ  law  of  righteousness 
if  he  would  receive  its  complete  results.  As  in  our 
thinking,  all  our  greatest  difficulties  come  from 
"  terminating  investigation  prematurely,"  refusing 
to  carry  to  the  end  the  demands  of  reason,  so  in  our 
practical  living,  the  unsatisfactory  results  arise  from 
the  fact  that  we  have  not  been  in  dead  earnest  with 
the  principle  of  righteousness  and  life.  Jesus  makes, 
therefore,  the  very  key-note  of  his  teaching  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  this  thought  of  fulfillment. 
"  I  came,"  he  says,  "  not  to  destroy  the  law  or  the 
prophets,  but  to  fulfill "  (5  :  17).  You  are  to  follow, 
he  says,  the  least  hint  of  the  law  of  duty  (5 :  18, 
19).  Your  righteousness  must  exceed  that  of  the 
most  scrupulous  Pharisee  (5  :  20).  You  will  carry 
your  fight  against  evil  back  of  the  murderous  act  to 
the  spirit  of  anger  and  contempt  in  the  heart,  and 
replace  it  with  the  spirit  that  would  rather  seek  rec- 
onciliation (5:21-26).  You  will  carry  your  fight 
against  evil  back  of  the  licentious  act  to  the  spirit 
of  impurity  in  the  heart,  at  whatever  cost  (5:27- 
30).  You  will  not  be  content  merely  to  perform 
your  oaths,  but  will  press  forward  to  the  attainment 
of  the  spirit  of  the  simplest  truthfulness,  that  makes 
all  oaths  unnecessary  (5  :  33-37).  You  will  not  be 
content  merely  to  observe  some  seemingly  just  limi- 
tation in  retaUation  for  injury,  but  you  will  rather 
go  forward  to  the  setting  aside  of  all  retaUation, 
and  replacing  it  by  the  positive  spirit  of  love,  that 


THE   GREAT    MOTIVES   TO    LIVING  239 

would  serve  far  beyond  the  demands  that  the  self- 
ishness of  the  other  might  make  upon  you  (5  :  38- 
42).  You  will  thus  fulfill  and  perfect  and  carry  out 
into  its  full  fruitage  the  law  of  righteousness  in  a 
completing  love  toward  all  men,  that  will  make  you 
true  sons  of  the  Father  (5  :  43-48).  You  will  not 
be  content  with  a  righteousness  of  the  outward  act 
that  may  approve  itself  to  men,  but  will  demand 
from  yourself  rather  that  inner  secret  righteous- 
ness of  the  heart,  seen  of  the  Father  alone,  and 
that  he  may  approve  (6:  i,  4,  6,  18).  Beyond  all 
acquisition  of  external  possessions,  you  will  give 
your  heart  only  to  that  treasure  of  the  inner  char- 
acter that  shall  abide  on  into  the  ages  (6: 19-21). 
You  will  recognize  the  narrow  gate  and  the  strait- 
ened way  of  the  genuinely  unselfish  life,  and  spare 
no  pains  to  find  it  (7 :  14).  And  beyond  all  devout 
profession  and  all  diligent  hearing  of  the  word  of 
duty  you  will  count  the  doing  of  the  will  of  the 
Father,  the  departing  from  iniquity  (7:  21-23). 

All  this  means  that,  in  the  thought  of  Jesus,  it  The  true 
is   not  the  avoidance  of   the  law   of   God  as   far  extension 

of  the  law 

as  possible,  but  the   completest  fulfillment  of  it,  inner  and 
which  is  the  road  to  life  and  happiness,  carrying  ^^^^^  ^°^ 
the  spirit  of  the  law  into  the  remotest  ramifications,  and  me- 
into  the  inmost  spirit  of  the  life.     The  blessing  of  ^^^^'^^^^l- 
God,  to  Jesus'   thought,  is  not,  then,  an  external 
reward  to  be  won  by  the  doing  of  some  particu- 
larly  distasteful   task,  one  to  which,   with   great 
pains,  you  have  even  added  disagreeable  elements. 
Rather  the  true  extension  of  the  law  of  God  is  not 


240 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


The  danger 
of  the  ex- 
ternal exten- 
sion of  the 
law. 


The  inner 
extension 
of  the  law 
tends  to 
humility. 


outer  and  mechanical,  but  inner  and  ideal,  in  spirit 
not  letter.  The  vast  extent  of  the  Buddhist  com- 
mand not  to  kill  anything,  for  example,  does  not  so 
much  elevate  the  life  of  the  gnat  as  degrade  the 
life  of  man  ;  the  punctilious  observance  of  Jewish 
tithings  and  washings  did  not  so  much  guard  the 
great  essentials  of  the  law,  as  tend  to  draw  time 
and  attention  away  from  these  essentials.  Mo- 
nastic asceticism  and  works  of  supererogation  do 
not  so  much  extend  genuine  righteousness,  as  tend 
to  replace  the  great  requirements  of  righteous- 
ness. 

It  may  well  be  noted,  too,  how  inevitably  the 
mechanical  and  external  extension  of  the  law  every- 
where promotes  a  spiritual  pride.  The  man  seems 
to  himself  to  be  doing  more  than  he  is  required  to 
do,  and  so  to  be  deserving  of  some  special  recog- 
nition from  God  and  men.  There  is  always  danger 
in  exalting  certain  externals  as  infallible  signs  of 
righteousness  or  religion.  Men  need  always  to  be 
on  their  guard  against  erecting  those  external  rules, 
which  they  may  rightly  enough  have  laid  down  for 
themselves,  into  universal  standards  of  righteous- 
ness. Jesus  himself  refuses  to  submit  to  any  of 
these  external  tests,  as  determining  the  attitude  of 
his  spirit,  whether  the  external  test  be  washings, 
or  fastings,  or  association  with  publicans  and  sin- 
ners, or  the  external  law  of  the  Sabbath. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  inner  extension  of  the 
law,  the  clear  discernment  that  its  only  true  obedi- 
ence must  be  from  within,  just  because  it  is  inevi- 


THE    GREAT   MOTIVES   TO   LIVING  24 1 

tably  connected  with  continually  growing  insight 
into  the  possibilities  of  moral  growth,  into  the  much 
that  is  yet  to  be  attained,  tends  directly  to  humility, 
where  the  external  extension  tended  to  pride. 

Now,  this  thought  of  the  need  of  thoroughgoing  Duty  points 
fulfillment  may  well  become  a  powerful  motive  to  *^  way  to 

•'  ^  larger  life. 

help  us  into  the  life  of  unselfish  love.  If  you 
would  really  find  your  way  to  righteousness  and 
peace  and  freedom  and  life  in  relation  to  the  man 
who  has  wronged  you,  Jesus  suggests,  do  not  try 
to  see  how  short  a  way  you  can  go  in  obedience  to 
God's  command,  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill,"  or  in  rec- 
onciliation to  the  other,  but  how  far  you  can  go. 
Take  the  command  as  merely  a  gracious  hint  of 
the  line  along  which  the  largest  life  may  come  to 
you.  Go  as  far  as  you  can  go.  Fill  full  this  law 
Leave  not  one  jot  or  one  tittle  undone,  one  least 
commandment  in  this  direction  unfulfilled  (5  :  17, 
18,  19,  21,  22).  Do  much  more  than  you  must  do; 
do  all  that  love  could  suggest  (5  :  39-42).  So  and 
only  so  can  we  find  peace  and  freedom  and  life. 
Duty,  Jesus  never  forgets,  is  the  Father's  will; 
and  the  Father's  will  is  our  life,  not  a  limitation  of 
life.  Or,  in  ethical  terms,  duty  is  but  the  law  of 
one's  own  being,  and  only  in  the  line  of  that  law 
can  life  lie.  Duty,  thus,  points  the  way  to  greater 
life  and  blessing  ;  it  does  not  hinder  our  life  at  any 
point.  Not,  then,  the  transgression  of  the  law  of 
duty,  and  not  the  abrogation  of  the  law  of  duty, 
but  rather  welcoming  it,  throwing  oneself  with  all 
one's  heart  into  the  completest  fulfillment  of  it,  can 


freedom. 


242  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

bring  real  life.     We  need  not  fear,  therefore  ;  the 
fullest  obedience  leads  to  the  fullest  life. 
A  new  It  has  often  been  said  of  the  Sermon  on  the 

Mount,  that  it  only  gives  to  men  a  deeper  condem- 
nation because  it  insists  upon  a  higher  standard  of 
righteousness.  This,  I  think,  is  to  misconceive  its 
main  thought.^  For  Jesus  is  urging  a  view  of  the 
law  of  duty  quite  contrary  to  that  often  held,  that 
in  itself  contains  promise  of  deliverance  from  the 
sense  of  bondage  to  the  law.  In  harmony  with 
the  modern  conception  of  duty  as  simply  the  law 
of  our  own  natures,  and  therefore  the  law  of  life 
for  us,  Jesus  does  not  set  the  law  of  God  over 
against  the  love  of  God,  but  rather  sees  that  the 
law  of  God  is  a  priceless  part  of  the  revelation  of 
the  love  of  God,  —  God's  disclosure  of  the  way  of 
growing  life  for  us.  If,  therefore,  he  is  virtually 
saying,  you  really  believe  in  the  love  of  God,  you 
will  have  no  desire  to  fight  his  will;  you  will 
recognize  each  command,  however  hard  it  now 
seems,  as  in  truth  a  blessed  loving  hint  of  the  line 
of  life.  And  when  one  so  sees  it,  he  will  welcome 
the  call  of  duty,  not  fight  it.  He  is  given  free- 
dom. He  chooses,  of  his  own  will,  the  line  of 
duty.     He  looks  at  duty  in  a  different  light.     He 


1  Nor  is  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  merely  ethics;  it  contains 
the  essential  religion  of  Jesus,  also,  as  its  main  contentions  show. 
(See  above,  p.  200.)  It  is  often  too  narrowly  limited  to  ethics  in 
the  characterization  of  it.  (Cf.  Gore,  op.  cit.,  p.  i;  Augustine, 
Nicene  and  Ante- Nicene  Fathers,  \o\.  Nl^  p.  3;  ctr.  Gladden,  The 
Church  and  Modern  Life,  pp.  162-163.) 


THE    GREAT   MOTIVES   TO   LIVING  243 

has  a  new  spirit  that  welcomes  the  whole  of  duty. 
He  desires  to  fill  the  law  full.i 

If,  with  this  new  feeling  toward  duty,  now,  one 
is  in  dead  earnest  in  the  fulfilling  of  the  law  of 
righteousness,  he  will  be  driven  not  to  the  multi- 
plying of  external  observances,  but  rather  driven 
back  to  deal  with  the  in7ier  spirit  of  his  life,  out  of 
which  all  outward  action  springs,  determined  to 
plant  there  the  true  spirit  of  love  to  which  the 
command  always  looks.  And  the  supreme  mo- 
tives that  must  lie  back  of  every  such  positive 
method  of  dealing  with  the  inner  spirit  of  selfish- 
ness, are  to  be  found  only  in  Jesus'  faith  in  God 
as  Father,  and  in  man  as  brother. 

III.    '' Thy  brother'' 

We  shall  hardly  come  into  a  real  love  of  another  Jesus'  use 
unless  we  can  beheve  that  in  some  way  he  deserves  c[pie\^n^Se' 
our  love.     And  we  have  to  fall  back,  therefore,  on  Sermon. 
that  thought  of  men  as  our  brothers  so  certainly 
involved  in  Jesus'  thought  of  God  as  Father.     It 
seems  to  Jesus  to  be  an  inevitable  inference  from 
the  thought   that  God   is   Father  —  that   is,  that 
there  is  love  at  the  very  heart  of  the  world  —  that 
men  should  necessarily  think  of  one  another  as 
brothers,  all  alike  children  of  the  Father,  and  to 
be  treated  and  loved  as  such.     The  motive  is  not 
the  less  powerful  that  it  seems  with  Jesus  so  inci- 
dental; rather  is  it  incidental  because  it  carries 
inevitable  force  with  it.     He  would  have  men  re- 
member that  it  is  their  brother  with  whom  they 

^  Cf.  Gould,  The  Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Testament^  pp.  29  ff . 


244 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


The  mean- 
ing of 
brotherhood. 


Our  indis- 
soluble 
connection 
with  others. 


are  angry,  their  brother  of  whom  they  are  willing 
to  speak  with  such  contempt,  their  brother  that 
has  somewhat  against  them,  their  brother  to  whom 
they  must  be  reconciled  (5  :  22-24).  Even  those 
who  are  enemies  and  persecutors  are  nevertheless 
to  be  loved  as  brothers  (5  :  44,  47).  He  reminds 
men,  who  are  so  ready  to  judge,  that  it  is  a  brother 
whose  fault  they  are  magnifying,  a  brother  whom 
in  pride  they  feel  quite  able  to  correct,  blind  to 
their  own  fault  (7  :  3-5). 

If  I  am  to  love  men,  then,  I  need  to  believe  that 
they  are  my  brothers,  that  is,  (i)  that  the  life  of 
every  man  is  knit  up  indissolubly  with  my  own ; 
(2)  that  he  is  like  me ;  and  (3)  that  in  some  true 
sense  he  has  a  sacred  and  priceless  personality  in 
Jesus'  thought, — is  a  child  of  God.  Then  I  can- 
not wish  to  kill  or  hate  or  despise  or  condemn  him. 

That  men  are  my  brothers  means,  then,  in  the 
first  place,  that  our  lives  are  indissolubly  knit  up 
together.  For,  to  mention  no  other  consideration, 
for  one's  own  life,  according  to  Jesus'  fundamental 
principle,  one  needs  most  of  all  to  love.  We  have 
much  to  say,  in  education,  of  self-development, 
and  of  enlarging  and  enriching  life.  Have  we 
made  it  quite  clear  to  ourselves  that  the  one  life 
that  makes  enlargement  or  enrichment  absolutely 
impossible  is  the  selfish  life  ?  "  Selfish  culture," 
from  Jesus*  point  of  view,  is  a  contradiction  in 
terms.  The  whole  trend  of  the  life  of  selfishness 
is  toward  loveless  and  fruitless  loneliness,  the  deso- 
lation of  the  desert  waste.     To  real  enlargement 


THE    GREAT    MOTIVES    TO    LIVING  245 

of  life  there  is  one  sole  way  —  through  the  giving 
of  ourselves  in  loving  self-sacrifice  to  others.  Let 
us,  then,  make  it  quite  clear  to  ourselves  that  this 
other  who  so  wearies  and  tires  and  exasperates  us, 
with  whom  we  seem  to  have  so  little  in  common, 
whose  wrong  toward  us  we  cannot  forget,  and 
whose  spirit,  even,  we  may  not  be  able  to  approve, 
is  still  knit  up  with  our  life  in  a  way  not  to  be 
spared.  He  is  our  brother.  In  loving  him,  even 
if  he  despises  our  love,  we  shall  find  the  larger  life 
for  ourselves  ;  for  love  itself  is  life. 

And  that  the  other  man  is  our  brother  means  Essential 
also  that,  whether  we  will  or  not,  he  is  really  very  l^^^^^^^- 
like  us.  We  strive  to  put  him  in  quite  another 
class,  and  yet,  if  we  will  be  honest,  we  are  con- 
strained to  admit  that  he  is,  nevertheless,  in  the 
great  essentials  just  like  us,  with  the  same  faculties, 
the  same  fundamental  doubleness  of  nature,  the 
same  variableness,  the  same  great  possibilities,  the 
same  great  universal  interests ;  and  these  respects 
which  are  common  to  us  all  are,  after  all,  greater 
than  those  which  divide  class  from  class.  Duty 
may  compel  us  to  judge;  we  may  have  to  disap- 
prove ;  but  we  are  not  to  yield  to  a  loveless  zeal. 

With  clear  perception,  then,  that  in  the  great  Discerning 
essentials  the  other  is  like  us,  "  intensely  human,"  ^^^  likeness. 
let  us  put  ourselves  really  in  his  place.  Let  us 
apply  with  some  real  imagination  Jesus'  principle 
of  the  golden  rule  (Matt.  7  :  12),  and  ask  ourselves 
how  the  treatment  which  we  give  him  we  would 
ourselves  feel.     We  are  not  to  lord  it  over  others. 


246 


THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 


Sympathetic 
under- 
standing. 


No  class 
barriers. 


And  we  are  to  get  rid,  above  all,  of  contempt.^ 
We  are  to  get  this  other's  angle  of  vision,  and  not 
drug  our  conscience  with  the  deadly  sedative  that 
this  other  —  of  the  other  temperament,  the  other 
class,  or  the  other  race  —  is  quite  a  different  being 
from  ourselves.  The  most  horrible  cruelties  of 
history  have  flowed  spontaneously  from  this  lying 
denial  of  the  Ukeness  of  men. 

And  that  the  other  is  like  us  means,  too,  that 
we  may  be  sure  that,  as  we  are  conscious  that  there 
is  much  of  good  in  us  that  others  do  not  recognize, 
so  in  him  there  is  no  doubt  a  nobler  side  than  that 
turned  toward  us.  Temperamental  differences 
here  may  hide  much  from  us.  We  may  well  fix 
our  attention  on  his  best,  not  on  his  worst.  It  is 
difficult  enough  in  any  case  to  find  our  way  with 
sureness  into  the  real  inner  life  of  another ;  we 
shall  find  it  quite  impossible  if  we  attempt  it  in 
any  hard  and  unsympathetic  spirit.  It  requires 
"a  heart  at  leisure  from  itself  "  even  to  understand 
another. 

We  can  hardly  claim,  indeed,  to  have  risen  to  the 
level  of  even  the  common  consciousness  of  our 
time,  if  we  are  not  ready  to  recognize  the  ideals  of 
others,  though  expressed  in  quite  unconventional 
forms.  The  willingness  to  see  and  to  cherish 
ideals,  and  the  heroism  persistently  to  live  or 
unhesitatingly  to  die  for  them,  let  us  be  sure,  is 
not  confined  to  our  clique  or  to  our  race.     Have 

1  Cf.  Jane  Addams,  Newer  Ideals  of  Peace  ^  pp.  39,  49,  50,  58,  59, 
I50»  153- 


THE    GREAT   MOTIVES   TO    LIVING  24/ 

we  really  open  eyes  for  the  hidden  ideals  in  the 
lives  that  seem  to  us  unlike  our  own,  —  laborer,  cap- 
italist, negro,  white,  educated,  uneducated,  quick, 
or  slow  ?  It  is  not  a  true  interpretation  of  the 
Christian  law  of  love  which  insists  upon  either 
racial  or  class  barriers  to  the  setting  aside  of  the 
far  more  fundamental  likeness  of  men.  We  owe 
reverence  and  faith  and  love  not  merely  to  those 
whom  we  call  our  own,  but  to  all,  —  in  the  sig- 
nificant words  of  Jesus,  "  despairing  of  no  man  " 
(Luke  6:  35,  margin).  And  we  shall  have  no  final 
peace,  either  as  individuals  or  as  a  nation,  until  we 
recognize  in  its  entirety  this  primal  law  of  Jesus. 

And  that  the  other  is  like  us  means,  once  more,  Likeness  in 
that  he  is  a  man  with  like  limitations  and  tempta-  temptations. 
tions  and  struggles^  with  like  self-condemnation  and 
like  suffering.  And  if  we  really  believe  it,  how- 
ever impossible  it  may  be  for  us  always  to  approve, 
it  will  still  be  possible  always  to  pity  and  always  to 
seek  his  real  good.  To  us  may  be  visible  only  the 
hard  and  haughty  bearing  which  he  puts  on  as  a 
kind  of  shell  between  himself  and  the  world.  But 
we  do  not  know  the  hours  of  bitter  self -judgment  — 
the  times  of  struggle,  though  it  may  be  weak ;  the 
moments,  at  least,  of  appeal  to  God. 

He  is  our  brother,  he  is  like  us  ;  we  can  love 
him,  we  must  love  him. 

So,  too,  that  every  man  is  a  child  of  God  is  Every  man 
no  commonplace,  though  the  language  is  familiar  q^^^^^^^ 
enough.     The   ethical   and   religious  motives  evi- 
dently here  come  together ;  but  the  full  sweep  of 


248 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


Loved  by 
God. 


Of  infinite 
possibilities. 


The  brother 
not  a  judge. 


the  ethical  will  not  be  seen,  without  consideration 
of  Jesus'  religious  putting  of  the  matter. 

And  that  men  are  children  of  God  means,  in  the 
first  place,  to  Jesus,  that  this  one  against  whom 
we  harbor  the  bitter  and  revengeful  spirit  is, 
though  he  may  be  in  the  wrong,  still  a  child  of 
the  heavenly  Father,  loved  of  God,  grieved  over, 
'longed  for,  sought  out.  God  loves  us;  God  loves 
him.  We  can  hardly  recognize  for  ourselves  what 
it  means  to  be  children  of  God  and  still  maintain  a 
spirit  of  bitterness  and  enmity  toward  this  other, 
in  like  manner  also  a  child  of  the  heavenly  Father. 

And  that  any  one  should  have  this  place  in  the 
thought  of  God  means  that  he  is  in  himself  of 
priceless  interest,  with  the  power  of  the  endless 
life  upon  him,  and  with  infinite  possibilities.  No 
limits  can  be  set  to  his  growth  in  knowledge,  in 
power,  in  character,  in  the  ongoing  of  his  sharing 
of  the  life  of  God.  It  is  this  being  whom  we  are 
asked  to  take  into  account  in  our  thought,  even  as 
God  thinks  of  him.  And  when  we  really  think  of 
the  infinite  outlook  involved  in  these  possibilities, 
we  can  hardly  wish  to  do  other  than  to  share  in 
God's  own  work  of  patient,  long-suffering,  self- 
sacrificing  love  on  behalf  of  this  man.  The 
being  for  whom  God  cares  is  not  unworthy  of  our 
love. 

And  if  he  is  your  brother,  you  too  are  only 
brother,  and  you  are  not  to  play  the  judge  (7 : 2-5). 
The  more  like  he  is  to  you,  the  more  clear  it 
should  be  to  you  that  no  one  can  stand  unsym- 


THE    GREAT    MOTIVES    TO    LIVING  249 

pathetically  without  and  rightly  judge  him.  Get 
down  off  from  the  judge's  bench.  Judge  yourself, 
not  him. 

And   yet   this   same   respect  which   you  would  Seif- 
thus  show  the  value  and  sacredness  of  his  person-  ^^v^^^^<=^- 
ality,  you  must  have  for  yourself.     And  you  are  to 
allow  none  to  exploit  your  inner  life,  to  profane  it 
at  its  sources.     You  can  and  you  may  reveal  your 
best  only  to  the  reverent  (7 : 6). 

IV.    **  Thy  Father'' 

And  when  we  turn  to  Jesus'  fourth  motive,  we  Jesus'  use 
cannot   fail   to  see   that   the   thought  of   God  as  ""^  ^f^  . 

°  motive  in 

Father,  or,  in  ethical  terms,  of  love  at  the  heart  the  Sermon. 
of  the  world,  is  the  basic  assumption  in  the  entire 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  permeates  its  teaching 
throughout,  explicitly  recurring,  also,  again  and 
again.  Those  who  promote  peace  among  men  are 
to  be  recognized  as  sons  of  God  (5  19).  The  ear- 
nest life  of  men,  like  the  obedient  spirit  of  chil- 
dren, is  to  bring  glory  to  God  as  Father  (5  :  16). 
In  sharing  the  life  of  God,  in  the  spirit  of  universal 
love,  men  show  that  they  are  the  true  sons  of  the 
Father  (5  :  44-48).  The  Father  desires  in  his  chil- 
dren the  genuine  filial  spirit,  and  a  love  akin  to 
his  own,  and  can  take  no  satisfaction  in  acts  that 
spring  out  of  any  other  spirit.  His  blessing  can 
be  upon  no  other  (6  :  i,  4,  6,  14,  15,  18).  Men  may 
come  to  God  in  prayer,  in  the  profoundest  trust 
in  his  knowledge  of  them  and  his  love  for  them 
(6 :  8,  9-13  ;  7  :  7-1 1).  And  if  God  is  Father,  and 
there  is  love  at  the  very  heart  of  the  world,  then 


250 


THE    ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


Man  made 
for  love. 


Love  at  the 
heart  of  the 
world. 


God's  for- 
giving love 
for  us. 


surely  men  may  be  freed  from  anxiety  and  live  in 
trust  and  peace  (6  :  25-34). 

This  is  the  great  motive  underlying  all  other 
motives,  the  conviction  out  of  which  the  rest 
spring.  It  means  that  you  yourself  are  made 
for  love,  it  is  the  law  of  your  own  nature;  only 
love  can  bring  harmony  into  that  nature ;  without 
love  you  are  constantly  at  cross-purposes  with 
yourself.  If,  therefore,  you  would  have  unity 
even  in  your  own  nature,  you  must  learn  to  love. 

And  not  only  is  love  the  law  of  your  own 
nature.  This  motive  of  the  Father  means,  too, 
that  there  is  love  at  the  heart  of  the  world,  that 
the  universe  is  on  the  side  of  the  loving  will.  In 
religious  terms,  God  is  your  Father ;  you  cannot 
fail  to  respond  to  the  Father's  love.  Jesus  puts 
strongly  this  religious  appeal. 

There  is  involved  in  Jesus'  repeated  reference 
to  "  thy  Father  "  a  close  and  personal  appeal.  God's 
forgiving  love  for  us,  Jesus  seems  to  say,  must  send 
us  in  shame  and  humility  to  our  brother  (5 :  23-24; 
6:14,  15).  We  cannot  for  a  moment  clearly  see 
the  position  in  which  we  have  put  ourselves  in 
relation  to  God,  and  not  feel  the  biting  sarcasm 
of  Jesus'  parable  of  the  unforgiving  servant.  To 
awake  to  the  real  meaning  of  the  long-suffering 
and  forgiving  love  of  God  toward  us  can  hardly 
fail  to  stir  at  least  some  beginnings  of  forgiveness 
and  love  toward  our  fellow  servant.  And  there  is 
a  genuine  ethical  conviction  embedded  in  this  warm 
religious  appeal.    It  is  just  that  assurance  of  which 


THE   GREAT   MOTIVES   TO   LIVING  2$! 

we  have  spoken,  of  a  moral  trend  in  the  universe, 
that  the  universe  is  on  the  side  of  the  loving  will. 
To  avoid  much  circumlocution,  Jesus'  religious  form 
of  statement  is  retained. 

The  thought  of  God  as  the  loving  Father  means,  Sharing 
also,  that  we  cannot  share  the  life  of  the  Father  f"^  ^^^^^'^' 

'  love. 

without  love.  That  while  we  still  cherish  the  un- 
forgiving spirit,  we  are  irrevocably  shut  out  from 
God's  life  (5  123-24;  6:  14,  15).  And  this,  not  at 
all  on  account  of  any  vindictive  unwillingness  on 
God's  part  to  forgive,  without  some  similar  con- 
cession on  the  man's  part  to  balance  it.  Even  in 
a  great  human  friendship,  the  relation  is  inevita- 
bly hindered  when  we  allow  ourselves  consciously 
to  fall  below  the  spirit  of  the  nobler  life.  So,  still 
more,  in  our  relation  to  God  must  the  harbored 
evil  build  a  wall  of  separation.  One  comes  to  de- 
spise himself,  indeed,  that  it  can  be  a  temptation 
at  all,  —  this  hate,  this  envy,  this  jealousy,  this 
half  joy  in  another's  failure,  especially  where  any 
comparison  with  oneself  is  involved.  One  cannot 
draw  near  to  God  with  this  spirit  in  his  heart.  It 
is  the  insurmountable  something  between  him  and 
God. 

The  thought  of  God  as  Father,  as  living  love,  Real 
means  also  that  love  is  the  very  life  of  God,  and  '^^^°^' 
that,  therefore,  in  Jesus'  thought,  love  is  life ;  that 
hate,  consequently,  can  give  no  blessing,  that  it 
only  lessens  our  power  to  love  and  to  be  loved, 
chills  the  whole  stream  of  life  in  us,  makes  us  in- 
evitably less  and  able  to  enjoy  less.     And  it  gives, 


252  THE   ETHICS    OF  JESUS 

besides,  no  real  victory  over  the  other.  Whatever 
the  injustice  you  have  suffered,  not  even  the  kill- 
ing of  the  other  can  give  any  real  gain.  Brown- 
ing faces  this  thought  through  to  the  end  in  his 
"After":  — 

"Take  the  cloak  from  his  face,  and  at  first 
Let  the  corpse  do  its  worst ! 

How  he  lies  in  his  rights  of  a  man  ! 

Death  has  done  all  death  can. 
And,  absorbed  in  the  new  life  he  leads, 

He  recks  not,  he  heeds 
Nor  his  wrong  nor  my  vengeance;  both  strike 

On  his  senses  alike. 
And  are  lost  in  the  solemn  and  strange 

Surprise  of  the  change. 

Ha,  what  avails  death  to  erase 

His  offense,  my  disgrace  ? 
I  would  we  were  boys  as  of  old 

In  the  field,  by  the  fold; 
His  outrage,  God's  patience,  man's  scorn 

Were  so  easily  borne. 

I  stand  here  now,  he  lies  in  his  place  ; 
Cover  the  face." 

There  can  be  no  final  victory  over  the  other,  but 
the  victory  over  yourself  in  the  attainment  of  a 
better  spirit,  in  turning  the  other's  hate  into  love, 
in  making  him  love  you,  in  at  least  making  sure 
that  in  his  very  heart,  so  far  as  he  knows  you,  he 
has  reason  to  respect  you,  to  believe  in  you.  Or- 
ville  Dewey  is  but  following  out  Christ's  own 
teaching  when  he  says  :  *'  Every  relation  to  man- 
kind, of  hate  or  scorn  or  neglect,  is  full  of  vexa- 


THE   GREAT   MOTIVES   TO   LIVING  253 

tion  and  torment.  There  is  nothing  to  do  with 
men  but  to  love  them;  to  contemplate  their  vir- 
tues with  admiration,  their  faults  with  pity  and 
forbearance,  and  their  injuries  with  forgiveness. 
Task  all  the  ingenuity  of  your  mind  to  devise 
some  other  thing,  but  you  never  can  find  it.  To 
hate  your  adversary  will  not  help  you  ;  to  kill  him 
will  not  help  you ;  nothing  within  the  compass  of 
the  universe  can  help  you,  but  to  love  him."  But 
that  is  real  victory  and  real  life  for  both. 

And  this  thought  of  God  as  Father,  the  genuine  The  conse- 
faith  in  living  love  at  the  heart  of  the  world,  makes  q^^f.^' °^ 

°  '  trust  in  the 

possible  a  life  of  trust,  of  peace,  of  hope,  of  cour-  Father, 
age  (6  :  4,  6,  8,  9-13,  18,  25-34),  of  love  like  the 
Highest   (5  :  44-48),  and   of   undismayed    service 
(5  :  39-42).      And  these  are  all  ethical  results  of 
the  highest  significance. 

These  four  principles,  then,  are   Christ's  great  The  thought 
motives  to  living,  his  secret  of   life.     All   spring  °|,dtif,f^u 
from  one  faith,  love  at  the  heart  of  the  world,  God  the  other 
our  Father.     All  look  to  one  spirit,  love.     Back  of  "^^^^^s- 
all  of  them  stands  the  personaHty  of  Jesus  himself, 
both  showing  and  interpreting  the   love   of   God 
and  unstinted  love  for  men,  and  enabling  us  to  be- 
lieve in  such  love  and  to  catch  at  least  some  meas- 
ure of  it  from  the  contagion  of  his  own  life.^ 

God  is  Father.  Love  cannot  be  partial.  There- 
fore, also,  life  is  a  marvelous  unity,  and  sin  is  its 
own  worst  punishment  and  love  its  own  best  re- 
ward.    The  power  of  a  consistent  love  is  ours. 

1  Cf.  Haering,  The  Ethics  of  the  Christian  Life,  pp.  174,  178. 


254  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

God  is  Father.  Therefore  his  commands  are  our 
life,  and  both  the  keeping  of  the  law  and  deliver- 
ance from  the  law,  both  righteousness  and  freedom, 
come  from  simply  filling  the  law  full,  carrying  the 
spirit  to  which  the  law  looks  down  deep  into  the 
inmost  recesses  of  the  life.  The  power  of  a  radical 
love  is  ours. 

God  is  Father.  Therefore  every  man  is  a  child 
of  God,  like  us,  knit  up  in  life  with  us.  The 
power  of  a  gracious  love  is  ours. 

God  is  Father.  And  love  is  life.  Love,  infinite 
and  eternal,  is  at  the  heart  of  things.  We  can 
think  and  still  live  at  the  same  time,  because  it  is 
given  us  to  start  from  this  primal  faith  in  the  love 
of  God.     The  power  of  a  godlike  love  is  ours. 

Consistent,  radical,  gracious,  godHke !  And  if 
we  will  not  be  consistent  and  radical,  we  shall  not 
be  gracious  and  godlike. 

As  the  unity  and  comprehensiveness  of  Jesus' 
ethical  teaching  come  out  especially  in  a  consid- 
eration of  the  great  motives  to  living  as  set  forth 
in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  it  may  be  helpful  to 
give  here  a  condensed  summary  of  these  motives 
in  ethical  form,  as  derived  from  the  thought  of 
God  as  Father,  and  so  briefly  to  recapitulate  the 
entire  discussion. 


THE    GREAT    MOTIVES    TO    LIVING  255 

THE    GREAT  MOTIVES   TO   LIVING  AS   SEEN   IN 
THE   SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT  i 

I.   "  Thy  Father:^    5  :  9,  16,  44-48  ;  6 :  i,  4,  6,  8,  9,  14,  15, 
18,  26,32;  7:  II,  21.2 
This  is  the  great  motive  underlying  all  other  motives,  the 
conviction  out  of  which  the  rest  spring.     It  means  :  — 

1 .  You  yourself  are  made  for  love ;  it  is  the  law  of  your 

own  nature.  Only  love  can  bring  harmony  into 
it ;  without  it  you  are  constantly  at  cross-purposes 
with  yourself. 

2.  And  there  is  love  at  the  heart  of  the  world.     The  uni- 

verse is  on  the  side  of  the  loving  will.  (God  is  your 
Father.  You  cannot  fail  to  respond  to  the  Father's 
love,  —  to  the  contagion  of  the  loving  life  of  God.) 

3.  Love  alone,  therefore,  is  life,  sharing  in  the  highest 

life  (sharing  in  the  life  of  God  himself). 

4.  This  makes  possible  a  life  of  trust,  of  peace,  of  hope^ 

of  courage  (6:  4,  6,  8,  9-13,  18,  25-34)  ;  of  love, 
like  the  highest  (like  the  Father)  (5  :  44-48)  ;  and 
of  undismayed  service  (5  :  39-42). 
II.    The  unity  of  life.     Life  all  of  a  piece.     No  isolated  sec- 
tions.    "  No  man  can  serve  two  masters."     5  :  18,  19, 
22,  26,  28,  29,  30,  37,  48;  6:4,  6,  22-24;  7:5>  12, 
13-14.8 
I.  If  man  is  a  unity,  then  good  or  evil  cherished  any- 
where tends  to  permeate  the  whole,  tends  to  repro- 
duce its  kind. 

iCf.  Mathews,  The  Social  Teaching  of  fesus,  ch.  VIII,  "The 
Forces  of  Human  Progress." 

2  Cf.  Harnack,  What  is  Christianity  ?,  pp.  63  ff. ;  Beyschlag, 
New  Testament  Theology,  vol.  I,  pp.  80-82 ;  Bruce,  The  Kingdom 
of  God,  ch.  IV;  Haering,  The  Ethics  of  the  Christian  Life,  pp. 
178  ff. 

^  Cf.  Ecce  Homo,  p.  344  ;  Peabody,  fesus  Christ  and  the  Social 
Question,  pp.  342  ff. 


256  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

2.  And  if  only  love  is  life,  and  man  is  made  for  love, 

■then  every  bit  of  hate  in  me  works  for  death; 
every  bit  of  love  works  for  life. 

3.  This  principle  urges,  thus,  thoroughgoing  consistency 

in  a  genuine  love. 
III.   Fulfilling  the  law  of  duty.     "  I  came  to  fulfil."     "  Except 
your  righteousness  exceed."     5  :  17-20,  21-48  ;  6 :  i,  4, 
6,  18,21;  7:  14,21,24.1 

1.  If  the  sum  of  duty  is  love,  if  you  are  really  made  for 

love,  and  love  is  the  law  of  your  being,  then  love 
is  life,  and  the  requirements  of  duty  are  your  life, 
not  a  limitation  of  life.  (In  religious  terms,  if  God 
is  really  Father,  then  his  commands  are  your  life, 
not  a  limitation  of  life.)  ^ 

2.  Hence  not  the  transgression  or  evasion  of  the  law  of 

duty,  nor  the  abrogation  of  the  law  of  duty,  but 
rather  welcoming  it,  throwing  oneself  with  all 
one's  heart  into  the  completest  fulfillment  of  tlie 
law  of  duty,  brings  real  life.  Following  to  the 
utmost  every  hint  of  the  law  of  duty  (the  will  of 
God). 

3.  But  if  the  sum  of  duty  is  love,  that  completest  fulfill- 

ment will  be,  not  in  multiplying  external  observ- 
ances (cf.  the  "  hedge  of  the  law "),  but  in  the 
complete  reign  of  love  in  the  inner  spirit,  —  a  new 
spirit.  ("  Out  of  the  heart.")  This  is  the  keep- 
ing of  the  law  ;  this,  filling  it  full? 

4.  And  if  men  are  made  for  love,  if  love  is  life,  this  com- 

plete reign  of  love  in  the  inner  spirit,  out  of  which 
all  true  manifestations  of  love  will  grow,  is  seen  to 
be  no  alien  reign,  but  a  very  source  of  life,  and  the 

1  Cf .  Dale,  Laws  of  Christ  for  Common  Life,  pp.  208  flF. 

2  Cf.  Wendt,  The  Teaching  offesus,  vol.  I,  p.  314. 

8  Cf.  Herrmann,  Faith  and  Morals,  p.  384 :  "  All  the  require- 
ments uttered  in  the  5th  chapter  of  Matthew  can  be  fulfilled  only 
by  a  man  who  imposes  them  upon  himself." 


THE    GREAT    MOTIVES    TO    LIVING  2$^ 

sense  of  bondage  to  law  is  gone,  and  freedom 
comes  in.^  ,^ 

5.   This  principle,  thus,  urges  a  dead-in-earnest  radical- 
ism in  a  genuine  love  (cf.  5  :  20)  (implying  vigilant 
watchfulness,  and  the  sacrifice  of  relative  goods). 
IV.   ''Thy  brother:'     5:22,  23,  24,  44,  47  i    7  =  3?  4,  Sr  12. 
This  motive  means  three  things  :  ^  — 

1.  The  lives  of  men  are  indissolubly  knit  up  together  — 

"  members  one  of  another  "  —  inevitably,  desirably, 
mdispensably.  For  your  own  life's  sake,  you  can- 
not spare  the  relation  to  your  brother. 

2.  The  other  man  is  very  like  us  —  in  all  the  great  es- 

sentials of  nature,  in  cherishing  some  ideals,  with 
like  limitations,  and  temptations,  and  struggles. 
You  who  desire  love,  cannot  reasonably  withhold 
your  love  from  this  other,  so  like  you. 

3.  The  other  man  has  like  us  a  personality, —  sacred 

and  infinitely  valuable  (a  child  of  God),  worthy  of 
patient,  long-suffering,  self-sacrificing  love.* 

These  four  great  motives  in  living  are  more  or  Jesus'  use 
less  explicitly  applied  by  Jesus  in  the  illustrations 
in  the  5th  chapter,  as  helps  against  hate,  impurity,  Tn  the 
falsity,  and  the  spirit  of  retaHation  (5  :  21-42).     In  [jJus^ations 
the  treatment  of  these  motives  as  reasons  for  a  life  in  chapter  5. 
of  positive  love,  we  have  already  seen  how  Jesus 
would  deal  with  the  spirit  of  hate.     But  we  may 
well  follow  a  little  more  closely  his  line  of  thought 
in  his  further  illustrations. 

As   against  impurity^  the  motives  of  the  unity 

1  Cf.  Coe,  Education  in  Religion  and  Morals,  p.  147:  Christ  as 
the  restorer  of  the  play  spirit. 

2  Cf.  Wendt,  The   Teaching  of  Jesus,  vol.   I,  pp.   325  ff.;  Ecce 
Homo,  pp.  139  ff.,  153,  154,  169  ff.,  174. 

^  Cf.  Harnack,  What  is  Christianity  ?,  pp.  67-68. 
s 


of  the  four 
great  motives 


2S8 


THE    ETHICS    OF  JESUS 


The  motives 

against 

impurity. 

The  motives 
of  unity 
and  fulfiU- 
ment. 


A  funda- 
mental sin. 


The  subtle- 
ness of  the 
temptation 
to  impurity. 


of  life  and  of  Jesus'  thought  of  the  inner  fulfilling 
of  the  law,  mean  that  sin  is  in  the  inner  consent, 
in  any  case,  and  works  out  on  the  rest  of  the  life 
from  that,  so  that  the  life  may  be  absolutely  foul 
with  impurity  at  its  source,  though  there  is  not  at 
present  any  overt  act  (v.  28).  And  these  mental 
states  certainly  and  promptly  affect  bodily  states, 
and  tend  to  diffuse  themselves  through  the  whole 
nature  of  the  man,  and  so  weaken  him  for  every 
fight  for  righteousness.  A  man  cannot  throw 
his  whole  self  into  the  struggle  anywhere  else 
(vv.  29-30). 

Moreover,  the  sin  of  impurity  so  affects  the  very 
foundation  of  society,  of  which  the  family  is  the 
real  unit,  and  so  involves  the  violation  of  the  most 
intimate  possible  relation  of  life,  —  of  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  person,  that  this  sin  is  peculiarly  fatal 
in  its  effect  on  the  rest  of  the  man.  It  spoils  the 
whole  man ;  the  rest  of  his  life  rings  hollow.  What 
violation  is  not  possible  to  one  who  wiUingly  trans- 
gresses here  ?  (v.  32).  No  price  is  too  great  to  pay 
for  deliverance  at  this  point  (vv.  29-30). 

None  of  us  are  likely  to  be  too  sensitive  as  to 
this  fundamental  reverence  which  underlies  purity. 
That  reverence  for  the  person  which  is  involved  in 
steadfast,  thoroughgoing  purity,  counts  as  do  few 
other  qualities,  for  it  is  the  deepest  condition  of 
fine  personal  relations  (cf.  7 : 1-6),  and  the  best 
defense  against  the  most  subtle  temptations, —  the 
most  subtle,  because  connected  so  closely  with  the 
deepest  and  best  in  us. 


THE   GREAT   MOTIVES    TO    LIVING  259 

The  deliverance  from  impurity,  thus,  must  be  inner 
inner  absolutely.     Mere  asceticism  and  a  simply  deliverance, 
negative  fighting  will  not  conquer  it ;  only  a  higher 
love  can  conquer  the  lower,  —  only  such  a  sense  of 
the  sacredness  of  the  personaUty  as  makes  this  sin 
intolerable  even  in  thought. 

The  motive  of  God  as  Father  has  here,  too,  its  The  motive 
application.  For  a  man  who  really  beheves  that  pathef  ^^ 
God  is  Father  will  respect  his  will  in  the  laws 
of  his  being,  will  believe  in  the  love  of  God  in 
these  very  laws,  and  will  therefore  fulfill  them, 
not  grudgingly,  but  earnestly.  And  his  sense  of 
God's  reverence  for  his  personality  can  hardly  help 
prompting  to  a  similar  reverence  for  others.  He 
will  therefore  avoid  not  only  the  gross,  overt  act, 
but  every  violation  of  the  inner  sanctities  of  an- 
other's life.  And  into  the  highest  love  of  another, 
a  love  that  is  taken  on  in  the  thought  and  the  love 
of  God,  there  enter  a  thousand  heightening  ele- 
ments that  have  no  place  in  mere  passion,  that  are 
not  possible  to  it.  Underneath  such  a  love  lies 
faith  in  the  love  of  God  himself,  as  the  sure  foun- 
dation that  enables  even  this  love  between  these 
finite  personalities  to  take  hold  on  the  eternities. 
Such  faith  in  God,  too,  brings  the  hope  that  may 
look  to  the  life  of  endless  love,  and  may  believe  in 
its  own  love  as  one  that  God  can  bless  at  every 
step,  for  it  is  a  part  of  the  love  of  God  himself. 

And  against  impurity,  too,  the  other  motive  of  The  motive 
the  thought  of  men  as  brothers  also  serves.     For  ^roThe^s^^ 
just  so  soon  as  one  recognizes  the  priceless  value 


26o 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


Jesus*  use 
of  the  four 
great  motives 
against 
falsity. 


The  motive 
of  unity. 


and  sacredness  of  the  other  personality,  —  that  he 
is  Hke  himself,  he  cannot  bear  to  treat  him  as  a 
thing ;  for  he  knows  that  that  is  only  to  help  to 
doom  a  soul  of  infinite  possibilities  and  just  like 
himself  to  infamy,  inner  and  outer,  earthly  and 
ageless.  No  man  can  really  think  what  that  means 
and  find  it  a  pleasant  reflection.  Moreover,  every 
blow  at  the  purity  of  another  is  just  as  real  a  blow 
at  oneself.  For  here  too,  as  everywhere,  one  can- 
not treat  another  as  a  slave  and  not  become  himself 
a  slave.  We  are  bound  up  indissolubly  together, 
and  that  measure  that  we  mete  to  another  is  in- 
evitably measured  unto  us. 

And  the  same  four  great  motives  are  available 
against  falsity  (5  :  33-37).  When  Jesus  concludes 
this  brief  section  in  the  37th  verse,  "  But  let  your 
speech  be  Yea,  yea  ;  Nay,  nay  :  and  whatsoever  is 
more  than  these  is  of  the  evil  one,"  he  is  distinctly 
stating  the  principle  of  the  unity  of  the  inner  life. 
For  he  is  virtually  saying,  You  cannot  safely  tam- 
per with  the  simple,  straight,  genuine  truth  ;  there 
is  danger  in  anything  else.  And  the  principle 
means,  also,  that  falsity  in  speech  threatens  the 
rest  of  the  life  as  well.  One  cannot  be  false  in 
one  thing  and  leave  the  rest  unaffected.  False 
speaking  in  one  realm  leads  to  false  speaking  else- 
where, and  to  false  dealing  everywhere.  The  man 
who  plays  you  false  at  one  point  you  can  hardly 
entirely  trust  anywhere  else.  A  He,  Jesus  is  in- 
sisting, is  serious  business,  whether  told  or  acted, 
whether  expressed  or  ingeniously  insinuated.    And 


of  fulfillment. 


THE   GREAT    MOTIVES   TO    LIVING  26 1 

the  principle  means,  also,  that  falsity  is  its  own 
curse,  brings  its  inevitable  reward.  One  cannot 
play  fast  and  loose  with  his  own  sense  of  truth, 
and  not  find  himself  finally  unable  to  tell  the 
truth,  unable  to  make  himself  understood.  The 
habit  of  diplomatic  speech  is  disintegrating.  Sus- 
picion of  others  inevitably  follows,  and  hollowness 
of  one's  own  life,  which  carries  with  it  the  certain 
reward  of  lack  of  trust  from  others. 

And  Jesus'  thought  of  fulfillment^  as  applied  to  The  motive 
the  sin  of  falsity,  is  an  insistence  that  here,  too, 
one  must  go  back  to  the  inner  spirit.  You  cannot 
cure  falsity  by  requiring  the  oath  (vv.  34-36). 
Rather  one  must  cultivate  a  spirit  that  needs  and 
takes  no  recourse  to  the  oath.  When  Jesus  says, 
"  Swear  not  at  all "  (v.  34),  he  is  simply  following 
out  his  principle  of  the  inner  fulfilling  of  the  law, 
not  laying  down  some  new  external  command. 
To  conceive  the  command  as  external  is  quite  to 
misunderstand  him,  and  even  to  reverse  the  spirit 
of  his  teaching.  In  effect  he  says  to  those  who 
would  follow  him.  You  must  be  such  true  men  at  the 
very  heart  as  to  carry  naturally  the  faith  of  men, 
and  to  need  no  recourse  to  oath ;  and  least  of  all, 
to  use  it  to  cover  trickery.  Thinking  the  truth, 
seeing  things  just  as  they  are,  candor,  freedom 
from  all  prejudice  and  willfulness  and  from  all 
treachery  and  deceitfulness,  these  lie  back  of  all 
telling  the  truth.  There  must  be  such  simplicity 
and  transparency  of  character  as  shall  reflect  itself 
naturally  in  simplicity  and  transparency  of  speech. 


262  THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 

in  the  "Yea,  yea,"  and  the  "Nay,  nay"  (v.  37). 
The  truth,  therefore,  cannot  be  gotten  from  an- 
other by  any  external  contrivance  of  the  oath. 
You  cannot  get  truth  where  truth  is  not.  Not 
the  oath,  but  only  the  true  heart  that  hates  a  lie, 
said  or  lived,  in  big  or  little,  that  hates  all  trickery 
and  deceit,  all  playing  with  honesty,  brings  real 
deliverance  from  the  sin  of  falsity.  As  against 
the  sin  of  falsity,  the  motive  of  the  fulfilling  of 
the  law  drives  one  back  to  the  sense  of  the  neces- 
sity of  an  absolutely  honest,  transparent  soul,  that 
hates  sham  and  prejudice,  and  all  coming  short  of 
truth  and  honesty. 
The  motive  And  the  thought  of  the  other  man  as  your  brother 
bro^ers^^  brings,  also,  a  motive  against  falsity.  All  falsity, 
or  dishonesty,  all  lack  of  truthfulness,  is  a  sin 
against  your  brother,  a  sin  against  love.  For  no  sin 
is  greater  than  treachery.  The  one  thing  a  friend- 
ship cannot  stand  is  falseness ;  for  friendship  has 
so  no  possible  basis.  For  all  friendship  and  all 
society  are  and  must  be  built  on  trust.  If  one  is 
not  truthful,  therefore,  not  trustworthy,  he  is  doing 
something  to  undermine  the  very  foundations  of 
society. 

Moreover,  the  attitude  of  untruthfulness,  of  fal- 
sity, is  absolutely  self -contradictory.  For  every 
man  wants  faithful  dealing  from  God  and  from  all 
others ;  he  must  give  the  same.  And  the  thought 
that,  because  the  other  man  is  your  brother,  he  is 
like  you,  means  that  you  may  therefore  know 
that  what  you  need  and  require  from  him,  he  rightly 


THE    GREAT    MOTIVES    TO    LIVING  263 

needs  and  requires  from  you.    You  may,  not,  there- 
fore, deny  him  what  you  must  have  from  him. 

And  as  a  child  of  God,  a  person  of  infinite  possi- 
biHties,  he  deserves  from  you  the  truth,  nothing 
less. 

So,  too,  the  thought  of  God  as  Father  becomes  The  motive 
a  powerful  motive  to  truthfulness.  The  oath  is  ^3^^°^  ^^ 
supposed  to  appeal  especially  to  him,  but  he  is 
always  a  God  at  hand,  in  every  man ;  every  given 
word  is  in  his  presence,  as  really  as  is  the  form  of 
oath,  and  just  as  binding  (vv.  34-36).  And  as 
Father,  this  law  of  truthfulness,  which  he  has  made 
a  law  of  your  being,  is  a  law  of  life,  and  you  may 
not  evade  it  without  suffering  in  your  own  life. 
And  as,  in  your  relation  to  the  Father,  you  have  to 
do  with  a  "  faithful  Creator,"  you  must  be  in  like 
manner  faithful  in  relation  to  others.  That  which 
you  seek  from  God,  you  must  not  less  certainly 
give  to  your  brother. 

And  these  four  great  motives  have  their  applica-  The  use  of 
tion,  once  more,  as  against  the  spirit  of  retaliation  great°motives 
(5  :  38-42).     The  desire  for  retaliation  is,  of  course,  against  re- 
only  an  outworking  of  the  spirit  of  hate,  a  violation 
of  the  fundamental  law  of  love,  and  therefore  vir- 
tually involved  in  what  has  already  been  said. 

But  Jesus'  application  at  this  point  is  inevitable.  The  motive 
Where  the  disciple  of  the  older  law  might  have  °^  "°^^* 
regarded  himself  as  virtuous  in  restricting  his  re- 
taliation to  retaliation  in  kind,  —  "  an  eye  for  an 
eye,  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,"  Jesus  insists  that  there 
is  no  victory  in  this  realm  except  by  an  absolute 


264 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


The  motive 
of  fulfill- 
ment. 


The  motive 
of  men  as 
brothers. 


replacing  of  the  entire  spirit  of  retaliation  by  a 
spirit  of  abounding  love.  For,  if  love  is  life,  and 
hate  is  death,  then  any  cherishing  of  the  spirit  of 
retaliation  must  work  sure  consequences  of  evil  in 
oneself. 

And  the  victory  over  this  spirit  must  come 
through  that  inner  fulfillment  of  the  requirement 
of  righteousness  upon  which  Jesus  is  insisting 
throughout  this  chapter.  It  means,  as  his  illustra- 
tions in  verses  39-42  show,  that  one  must  be  will- 
ing to  carry  the  opposite  spirit,  of  a  loving  service, 
far  beyond  what  the  other  in  hate  would  demand. 
Out  of  a  spirit  of  love,  Jesus  is  suggesting,  you 
will  do  all  that  the  selfish  hate  of  the  other  could 
require,  and  more.  Your  desire  to  serve  will 
outrun  his  selfish  demand.  You  will  be  ready  to 
turn  the  other  cheek,  to  let  him  have  the  coat,  to 
go  the  two  miles,  to  lend.  Here,  once  again,  Jesus 
is  giving  no  external,  infallible  rules,  but  illus- 
trations of  that  thoroughgoing  inner  spirit  which 
alone  may  bring  deliverance  from  the  spirit  of 
retaliation,  because  it  is  a  true  fulfillment  of  the  law 
of  love. 

The  motive  involved  in  the  thought  of  the  other 
man  as  your  brother  brings  the  same  result.  Let 
one  think,  for  example,  of  the  treatment  that  a 
true  father  or  mother  gladly  gives  to  an  unworthy 
son,  who  has  justly  forfeited  all  loving  service, 
and  yet  in  a  spirit  of  arrogant  selfishness  demands 
certain  things  from  the  father  or  mother.  How 
certainly   will  the  answer  of  the  grieving,  loving 


THE   GREAT   MOTIVES   TO    LIVING  265 

father  or  mother  be  exactly  in  the  line  of  Jesus' 
illustrations:  "Why,  my  son,  it  is  a  small  thing 
that  you  ask.  Have  you  any  doubt  that  there  is 
nothing  within  my  power  that  I  would  not  gladly 
do,  if  it  would  be  of  any  real  good  to  you  ? "  It  is 
only  love  at  its  best  and  highest  that  can  properly 
understand  and  estimate  these  words  of  Jesus  here.^ 

And  so,  in  like  manner,  the  thought  of  God  as  The  motive 
Father  can  hardly  fail  to  drive  out  the  unforgiving  Ya^ev  ^^ 
and  retaliatory  spirit.  There  can  be  no  true  filial 
relation  to  God,  no  sharing  in  his  life  of  forgiv- 
ing and  serving  love,  where  the  unforgiving  and 
retaliatory  spirit  still  abides.  This  is  Jesus'  ex- 
press insistence  in  his  injunction,  "  first  be  rec- 
onciled to  thy  brother "  (5  :  23-24),  and  in  the 
comment  on  the  forgiving  of  men's  trespasses 
(6:  14-15).  The  inevitable  logic  of  this  motive  of 
God  as  Father  comes  out  at  once,  as  soon  as  one 
tries  to  transfer  the  spirit  of  retaliation  to  God. 
If  God  is  Father,  and  his  life  is  the  life  of  forgiv- 
ing and  serving  love,  then  love  is  life,  and  hate  is 
death,  and  one  can  only  love  even  enemies  and 
persecutors  (v.  44) ;  so  alone  can  he  share  the  life 
of  God  (v.  45) ;  so  alone  can  he  aim  at  a  spirit  and 
life  like  his  (v.  48).  To  take  a  less  standard  than 
this  is  to  be  satisfied  with  the  most  ordinary  and 
conventional  attainment  (vv.  46-47). 

1  Cf.  Votaw,  art.  "  Sermon  on  the  Mount,"  H.  D.  B.,  extra  vol- 
ume, p.  30 :  The  guiding  principle  here  is  that  "  love  knows  no 
limits  but  those  which  love  itself  imposes."  See  also  Rauschenbusch, 
Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis,  p.  68, 


266  THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 

So  Jesus  uses  these  great  motives  in  the  Sermon, 
and  thus  suggests  their  use  in  all  of  life.  They 
indicate  for  him  the  source  of  moral  motive.  The 
fact  that  they  all  root  in  faith  in  God  as  Father 
shows  how  inevitably  for  Jesus  the  ethical  life 
builds  on  the  religious,  and  suggests  that,  in  his 
own  thought,  his  service  to  men  is  not  merely 
pointing  out  these  motives,  but  because  of  the 
greatness  of  his  spirit,  enabling  us  to  believe  them 
—  enabling  tis  to  believe  that  God  is  Father,  that 
there  is  love  at  the  heart  of  the  world.^ 

^  Cf.  Herrmann,  Communion  of  the  Christian  with  God  (1895), 
p.  no;  Weiss,  art.  "Ethics,"  D.  C.  G.,  p.  547. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
CONCLUSION. 

As  we  turn,  now,  to  a  summary  of  the  results  The  Sermon 
of   our  entire  survey   of   the  ethical  teaching   of  ^ount 
Jesus,  we  can  hardly  fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  itself  a 
fact  that  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  itself  a  kind  of^Su? 
of  summary  of  all  that  is  most  significant  and  es-  teaching, 
sential  in  Jesus'  entire  teaching.     Doubtless  it  was 
so  in  the  mind  of  Matthew,  and  it  is  certainly  so  in 
fact.^     For  our  study  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
must  have  made  it  plain  that  there  are  to  be  found 
here  the  great  central  conceptions  of  Jesus  as  to 
God,  as  to  men,  as  to  life.     Here  are  set  forth  in 
unmistakable  terms  the  life   of   love  toward  God 
and  men,  and  all  that  that  love  involves. 

How  truly  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  such  a  Evidenced 
summary,  has   perhaps   already   been   sufficiently  ceding ^S" 
shown  in  those  main  propositions  of  the  Sermon  cussion. 
which  we  have  called  the  spiritual  discoveries  of 
Jesus;  in  the  comprehensive  unity  of  the  character- 
ization of  the  ideal  life  in  the  Beatitudes,  as  giving 
the  basic  qualities  of  character,  and  influence,  and 
happiness,  —  the  very  elements  of  love  itself,  the 
necessary   conditions   of   the  friendly   life   every- 

iCf.  Bartlet,  "Teaching  of  Jesus,"  D.  C.  G.,  p.  701;  D'Arcy, 
"  Leading  Ideas,"  D.  C.  G.,  p.  770. 

267 


268 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


Contains 
the  ethical 
notes  of 
Schmiedel's 
passages. 


Contains 
the  ethical 
laws  of  the 
doubly 
attested 
sayings. 


In  harmony 
with  Q. 


where  and  in  every  age ;  and  in  the  setting  forth 
of  the  great  motives  for  living  involved  in  this 
teaching. 

And  when  we  look  back  over  the  divisions  of 
our  inquiry,  it  is  equally  manifest  that  here,  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  is  found  a  true  summary 
of  all  the  ethical  teaching.  All  the  notes  of 
Schmiedel's  passages  come  out  in  this  Sermon : 
the  demand  for  a  life  that  shall  be  characterized 
by  earnestness,  absolute  genuineness,  inwardness, 
and  independence,  and  reverence  for  the  person; 
the  sense  of  religion  as  through  and  through  ethi- 
cal, of  the  contrast  of  his  teaching  with  that  of  his 
times  ;  and  in  Jesus  himself  the  impression  of  com- 
passion and  authority. 

And  here,  too,  it  may  be  said,  that  there  is 
hardly  lacking  any  one  of  the  laws  of  life  brought 
out  in  the  doubly  attested  sayings :  the  clear  view 
of  the  supremacy  of  love  as  universal,  as  serving, 
and  sacrificial ;  the  fundamental  faith  in  love  at 
the  heart  of  the  world ;  the  laws  of  use,  habit, 
efficiency,  vigilant  watchfulness,  the  contagion  of 
the  good,  and  of  reverence  for  the  person,  with  the 
recognition  of  the  supreme  value  of  the  quahties  of 
childhood,  and  the  demand  for  forgiveness. 

Moreover,  the  Sermon  itself  constitutes  no  small 
part  of  Q  —  58  out  of  201  verses,  and  the  rest  of 
Q  is  completely  in  harmony  with  this  portion. 
Harnack's  concluding  estimate  of  Q  may  be  taken 
as  confirmatory  of  this  judgment  :^  "  The  collection 

1  The  Sayings  of  Jesus  ^  pp.  250-251. 


CONCLUSION  269 

of  sayings  and  St.  Mark  must  remain  in  power, 
but  the  former  takes  precedence.  Above  all, 
the  tendency  to  exaggerate  the  apocalyptic  and 
eschatological  element  in  our  Lord's  message, 
and  to  subordinate  to  this  the  purely  religious 
and  ethical  elements,  will  ever  find  its  refuta- 
tion in  Q.  This  source  is  the  authority  for  that 
which  formed  the  central  theme  of  the  message 
of  our  Lord  —  that  is,  the  revelation  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  God,  and  the  moral  call  to  repent  and  to 
believe,  to  renounce  the  world  and  to  gain  heaven 
—  this  and  nothing  else." 

And  when  one  compares  the  teaching  of  the  Ser-  in  harmony 
mon  on  the  Mount  with  Mark,  with  his  thought  of  ^^thSg  in 
Jesus'  message,  method,  motive,  goal,  and  the  revolu-  Mark,  and 
tionary  contrast  of  his  teaching,  his  emphasis  on  the   JeacMng^in^ 
great  paradox  and  the  great  commandment  and  the   Matthew 
social  applications  of  this  commandment  of  love,  one   ^"     ^  ^* 
must  say,  once  again,  that  there  is  very  little  here 
that  is  not  repeated  in  some  form  in  this  Sermon. 
And  practically  the  same  thing  may  be  added  as  to 
the  peculiar  teaching  in  both  Matthew  and  Luke. 

Our  survey  sufficiently  makes  clear  that  Jesus'  No  technical 
teaching  is  not  put  before  us  in  the  form  of  a  ^y^^^"^- 
technically  constructed  system.  On  the  contrary, 
there  is  an  apparent  lack  of  all  system,  and  what 
we  seem  to  have  is  a  collection  of  miscellaneous 
sayings  called  out  on  various  occasions.  In 
speaking  upon  the  moral  and  rehgious  life,  Jesus 
does  not  speak  like  an  amateur,  who  must  be 
punctiliously  careful  to  put  things  always  in  the 


270 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


Yet  a 
thorough- 
going unity 
in  Jesus* 
teaching. 


same  way,  for  fear  he  may  get  off  the  line  of 
his  exact  meaning;  but  he  speaks  rather  like  a 
master,  who  can  be  careless  of  form  and  system, 
because  he  knows  that  true  insights  cannot  help 
fitting  one  another. 

Nevertheless,  no  earnest  student  of  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  can  fail  to  see  that  there  is  in  that 
teaching,  in  point  of  fact,  a  marvelously  thorough- 
going unity .1  And  in  fact  it  is  not  too  much  to  say 
upon  this,  in  the  first  place,  that  Jesus'  entire  ethi- 
cal and  religious  teaching  springs  from  one  single 
thought,  his  faith  in  God  as  Father.  All  that  he 
teaches  may  be  said,  thus,  to  be  a  direct  reflection 
of  his  own  filial  consciousness.  This  faith  in  God 
as  Father,  this  unshakable  conviction  that  there 
is  love  at  the  heart  of  the  world,  and  that  the 
universe  is  on  the  side  of  the  righteous  will, 
this  is  not  merely  a  religious  faith,  as  we  have 
seen,  but  the  great  fundamental  moral  conviction 
which  is  necessary  to  an  earnest  and  hopeful 
moral  life.  In  the  words  of  Muirhead,  summing 
up  the  central  problem  of  the  recent  International 
Congress  on  Moral  Education,  "  *A  man's  confi- 
dence in  himself,'  said  Hegel,  *is  much  the  same 
as  his  confidence  in  the  universe  and  in  God.' 
What  is  true  of  the  individual  is  true  of  humanity. 
Without  such  confidence,  it  is  difficult  to  see  with 
what  ultimate  convincingness  appeal  can  be  made 
to  the  ideals  of  humanity."  ^    This  thought  of  God 

^  Cf.  e.g.,  Wendt's  summary,  The  Teaching  of  Jesus,  vol.  II,  pp. 
384  flf.  2  Hibbert  Journal,  January,  1909,  p.  351. 


CONCLUSION  271 

as  Father,  this  conviction  of  love  at  the  heart  of 
the  world,  Jesus  simply  carries  through  to  its  full 
logical  consequences  for  every  sphere  of  life.^ 
And  all  the  rest  of  his  teaching  may  be  regarded 
as  simply  the  detailed  statement  and  appHcation 
of  these  logical  consequences. 

From  this  primary  conviction  there  directly  fol-  inferences 
lows,  thus,  (i)  that  love  is  the  highest  life,  the  Jhoughl^f 
sum  and  end  of  all  true  living,  and  that  this  love,  God  as 
like  God's,  must  be  not  partial  but  for  all,  worthy 
and  unworthy  alike ;  that  it  must  be  a  love  willing 
to  serve  and  willing  to  sacrifice,  and  a  love  always 
forgiving.  From  this  same  premise  follows  not 
less  certainly  that  the  basic  qualities  for  character, 
and  influence,  and  happiness,  will  be  the  elements 
which  make  up  the  true  love.  And  out  of  this 
same  conviction  of  God  as  Father  we  have  seen  fol- 
low inevitably  the  great  motives  to  Uving.  Jesus' 
thought  of  God  as  in  his  very  nature  Father,  as 
love,  means,  too,  (2)  that  the  highest  possible  good 
is  the  reign  of  God,  the  dominion  of  love  in  both 
the  individual,  and  the  social  Hfe;  and  (3)  that 
every  man  is  a  child  of  God,  of  infinite  value, 
always  to  be  reverenced  as  such,  to  be  treated, 
therefore,  as  end  and  never  as  means.  It  follows 
not  less  certainly,  if  the  all-inclusive  virtue  is  love, 
(4)  that  righteousness  must  be  inner,  must  spring 
from  within,  and  can  never  be  simply  laid  on  from 

1  Cf.  Wendt,  The  Teaching  of  Jesus,  vol.  I,  pp.  184  ff.,  197,  199, 
297  ff.,  329  fif.,  337  ;  vol.  II,  pp.  48  fif.;  Augusta  Sabatier,  Outlines 
of  a  Philosophy  of  Religion,  pp.  152  ff. 


2/2 


THE   ETHICS    OF   JESUS 


Jesus  holds 
no  senti- 
mental view 
of  father- 
hood. 


without;  and  (5)  that,  therefore,  every  man  must 
have  an  independent  moral  and  spiritual  life  of 
his  own.  (6)  Just  because,  also,  the  command  of 
duty  is  the  command  of  love,  freedom  is  brought 
into  the  ethical  life. 

(7)  It  is  to  be  noticed  particularly  that  Jesus 
brings  out  the  logical  consequences  of  this  thought 
of  God  as  Father  in  no  sentimental  fashion.  He 
does  not  make  the  mistake  of  some  of  the  most 
recent  critics  of  his  teaching,  in  forgetting  that 
every  deep  truth,  just  because  it  has  a  fundamen- 
tally gracious  side,  has  just  as  inevitably  a  reverse 
side.  Jesus  never  forgets  that,  just  because  God 
is  Father,  men  may  take  toward  him  the  attitude 
either  of  obedient  or  disobedient  sons ;  that,  just 
because  the  real  essence  of  life  is  love,  the  life 
that  is  selfish  and  hateful  must  find  itself  at  war 
with  itself,  and  with  the  whole  universe  of  God. 
Jesus,  just  because  he  conceives  God  as  true  Fa- 
ther, knows  that  sin  is  a  more  awful  thing  to  the 
Father  than  it  can  possibly  be  to  judge  or  legis- 
lator.i  Just  because  life,  in  Jesus'  thought,  opens 
to  man  the  possibility  of  boundless  achievement 
and  joy,  there  is  borne  home  upon  him  also  the 
awfulness  of  the  loss  of  those  who  refuse  to  take 
on  the  filial  spirit.  Jesus  feels  profoundly  the 
seriousness  of  life,  and  it  is  this  that  gives  him 
that  impressive  earnestness  that  we  have  had  to 
note  again  and  again,  and  that  comes  out  so  clearly 

1  Cf.  Fairbairn,  The  Place  of  Christ  in  Modern  Theology^  p. 
444. 


CONCLUSION  273 

in  the  closing  paragraphs  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  (7: 13-27).! 

(8)  It  is  this  same  conviction  of  God  as  Father  The  chiid- 
which  leads  to  the  emphasis  of  Jesus  on  the  child-  i^^^e  qualities, 
like  qualities  of  humble  teachableness  and  trust  as 
the  very  gateway  into  his  Kingdom,  as  well  as  to 
his  repeated  emphasis  on  repentance  and  faith. 
For  as  soon  as  one  thinks  of  the  possibility  of 
coming  into  a  relation  to  a  great  personality,  trust 
must  be  seen  at  once  to  be  absolutely  basic.  No 
personal  relation,  human  or  divine,  can  go  forward 
except  upon  the  basis  of  mutual  self-revelation  and 
answering  trust.  And  if  one  is  to  come  into  the 
sharing  of  the  life  of  God,  there  must  be,  beyond 
doubt,  the  willingness  to  take  on  a  life  like  God's, 
to  get  the  new  mind  which  is  in  Jesus'  idea  of  re- 
pentance. 

One  may  put  the  matter  slightly  differently  in  Another 
saying  that,  in  Jesus'  thought,  (i)  the  basic  convic-  ^niTy^oV  ^ 
tion  is  that  of   love  at  the  heart  of  the  world ;   Jesus^ 
(2)  that  the  goal,  therefore,  of  all  Ufe  is  the  estab-  ^^^^^'""S- 
lishment  of  loving  relations  between  all  personali- 
ties ;  (3)  that  the  basic  qualities  of  life  for  character, 
influence,  and  happiness  will  be  those  qualities  of 
character    that    are    essential    elements    of   lovfe; 
(4)  that,  if  there  is  love  at  the  heart  of  the  world, 
we  may  trust  our  own  natures,  and  our  final  moral 
evidence  must  be   the  appeal  to  our  own  reason 
and  conscience,  to  our  own  best  vision ;  (5)  that 
the  great  motives  to  righteous  living  must  be  those 

1  Cf.  £cce  Jlomo,  pp.  299,  351. 
T 


2/4 


THE   ETHICS   OF   JESUS 


Has  Jesus 
an  ethical 
system  ? 


His  con- 
ception of 
the  highest 
good. 


His  concep- 
tion of  duty. 


that  grow  immediately  out  of  the  fundamental  con- 
viction of  love  at  the  heart  of  the  world ;  and  (6) 
that  the  chief  means  in  both  individual  and  vSocial 
upbuilding  must  be  obedience  to  these  subsidiary 
laws  of  life  which,  under  various  circumstances  love 
demands,  and  which  human  experience  confirms. 

If  the  inquiry  is  finally  raised  whether  Jesus  has 
an  ethical  system,  this  would  mean,  Does  he  face 
explicitly  (i)  the  question  of  the  highest  good  or 
wellbeing  of  men,  including  both  virtue  and  pleas- 
ure ;  (2)  the  question  of  duty  or  right  conduct,  or 
of  the  moral  law ;  (3)  the  question  of  the  faculty 
of  the  moral  life,  conscience ;  (4)  the  question  of 
the  necessary  presupposition  of  the  moral  life, 
free  will } 

In  answer  to  this  inquiry,  it  must  be  said  that, 
while  Jesus  probably  never  puts  these  questions 
to  himself  in  this  form,  he  plainly  does  conceive 
as  the  highest  good  of  men,  involving  the  full  play 
of  all  the  activities  of  the  entire  man,  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  the  reign  of  love  in  the  life  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  of  society,  the  possibility  open,  thus,  to 
men  of  sharing  in  the  eternal,  ongoing  purposes 
of  God.  It  becomes  most  natural,  therefore,  that 
the  central  petition  of  the  prayer  that  was  to  char- 
acterize his  disciples  should  be,  **  Thy  will  be  done, 
as  in  heaven,  so  on  earth." 

In  the  second  place,  duty^  or  right  conduct,  obedi- 
ence to  the  moral  law,  for  Jesus,  as  we  have  seen, 
is  summed  up  in  the  one  great  all-inclusive  virtue 
of  a  love  such  as  he  conceives  in  the  Father,  and 


CONCLUSION  275 

such  as  he  himself  revealed  in  his  own  life,  —  a 
forgiving,  serving,  self-sacrificing  love.^ 

As  to  the  question  of  the  moral  faculty,  conscience^  Assumes 
it  is  only  to  be  said  that,  in  all  his  insistence  upon  conscience, 
the  independence  and  inwardness  of  the  moral 
life,  and  in  his  own  direct  appeal  to  men,  Jesus 
only  assumes,  but  nowhere  discusses,  conscience,^ 
as  the  sense  of  moral  obligation  and  as  rational 
judgment  concerning  conduct. 

And  his  emphasis  upon  the  seriousness  of  life.  Assumes 
as  well  as  his  explicit  teaching,  makes  not  less  clear  ^°q^^[  ?^jjj^_ 
that  he  assumes  everywhere,  on  the  part  of  men,  tive  in  men. 
power  of  moral  initiative,  power  to  choose  the  life 
of  love  or  the  Hfe  of  selfishness. 

An  ethical  system,  then,  in  the  sense  of  a  mod-  Conclusion, 
ern,  ordered  discussion  of  technical  theoretical 
problems,  Jesus  certainly  does  not  have.  But  an 
ethical  system,  in  the  sense  of  thoroughly  unified 
and  consistent  thinking  on  life,  its  end,  spirit, 
motives,  and  means,  he  as  certainly  does  have. 
And  all  this  is  put  with  marvelous  practical  incen- 
tive to  living. 

1  Cf.  Stevens,  The   Theology  of  the  New  Testament,  pp.  109  fF. 
art.  "  Righteousness   in   the   New  Testament,"  H.  D.  B.,  p.  283 
Peabody,/*?^^^  Christ  and  the  Christian  Character,  pp.  120  ff.,  196  ff. 
Loisy,  The  Gospel  and  the  Church,  pp.  69  ff . ;   von  Schrenck,  Jesus 
and  His  Teaching,  ^^.  118,  123;   Schmidt,  The  Prophet  of  Nazareth, 
pp.  311  ff.;   Harnack,  What  is  Christianity  ?,  pp.  70  ff.;  Wendt,  The 
Teaching  of  Jesus,  vol.  I,  pp.  335  ff.;  Patterson  DuBois,  The  Culture 
of  Justice,  pp.   61,  83-85:  "Justice  is  methodized  love";   Harris, 
Moral  Evolution,  pp.  237-238:  "the  perfect  and  final  type";  and 
many  others. 

2  Cf.  Kilpatrick,  art.  "  Conscience,"  H.  D.  B.,  p.  468. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

See  Votaw's  carefully  annotated  list  of  books  "  for  New  Testa- 
ment study,"  ^?M^a/  PVor/d,  October,  1905  ;  and  the  bibliographies 
in  the  Bible  dictionaries  and  religioiis  encyclopaedias. 

I.  General  Works  on  Ethics. 

The  general  works  on  ethics  usually  have  some  dis- 
cussion of  Christian  ethics,  in  certain  of  its  aspects : 
Paulsen,  Wundt,  Lotze,  Green,  Sidgwick,  Stephen,  Alex- 
ander, Dewey  and  Tufts,  Palmer,  Bowne,  Mezes,  Harris 
(Moral  Evolution),  DuBois  (The  Culture  of  Justice), 
Addams  (Newer  Ideals  of  Peace),  Williams  (A  Review 
of  Evolutional  Ethics),  Post  (Ethics  of  Democracy), 
Raahdall  (Theory  of  Good  and  Evil),  etc. 

II.   Works  on  Christian  or  Theological  Ethics. 

The  older  discussions  here  are  rather  a  priori ;  the  later 
discussions  much  more  inductive.  Martensen,  Wuttke, 
Schleiermacher,  Rothe,  Dorner,  H.  Weiss,  Harless,  Hof- 
mann,  Frank,  Luthardt,  Beck,  Kiibel,  Kahler,  Pfleiderer, 
Schultz,  Krarup,  Kostlin,  Herrmann  (Ethik,  Faith  and 
Morals,  Communion  of  the  Christian  with  God),  Thoma, 
Jacoby,  T.  B.  Strong,  Knight,  Smyth,  Ottley,  W.  L. 
Davidson,  Mackintosh,  Murray,  Maurice  (Social  Morality), 
Nash  (Ethics  and  Revelation),  Dobschutz  (Christian  Life 
in  the  Primitive  Church),  Clark  (The  Christian  Method 
of  Ethics),  Mathews  (The  Church  and  the  Changing 
Order),  Fremantle  (The  World  as  the  Subject  of  Redemp- 

277 


278  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

tion,  and  the  Gospel  of  the  Secular  Life),  Drummond 
(The  Ideal  Life),  Gladden  (Applied  Christianity,  and  The 
Church  and  Modern  Life),  Leckie  (Life  and  Religion), 
J.  Smith  (Christian  Character  as  a  Social  Power),  Rau- 
schenbusch  (Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis),  R.  J. 
Campbell  (Christianity  and  the  Social  Order),  Peile  (The 
Reproach  of  the  Gospel),  The  Gospel  for  the  Nineteenth 
Century,  Coe  (Education  in  Religion  and  Morals), 
Haering  (The  Ethics  of  the  Christian  Life).  See  also 
Review  of  Theology  and  Philosophy ^  "  Survey  of  Recent 
Literature  on  Christian  Ethics,"  January,  1909. 

III.   Works  on  New  Testament  Theology. 

These,  of  course,  include  full  sections  on  the  teachings 
of  Jesus :  Weiss,  H.  J.  Holtzmann,  Beyschlag,  Harnack 
(What  is  Christianity?),  Stevens,  Wernle  (The  Beginnings 
of  Christianity),  Adeney,  Gould,  Gardner  (Exploratio 
Evangelica),  Bosworth  (The  Teaching  of  Jesus  and  the 
Apostles),  Mathews  (The  Messianic  Hope  in  the  New 
Testament),  Briggs  (The  Messiah  of  the  Gospels). 

IV.  Works  on  the  Life  of  Christ. 

These,  of  course,  involve  much  reference  to  the  teach- 
ing :  Keim,  Weiss,  O.  Holtzmann,  Beyschlag,  Reville, 
Seeley  (EcceHomo),  Sanday,  Edersheim,  Farrar,  Geikie, 
Broadus,  Wernle,  Weinel,  Schmidt  (The  Prophet  of 
Nazareth),  Bousset,  Fairbairn  (Studies  in  the  Life  of 
Christ),  Smith  (The  Days  of  His  Flesh),  Rhees,  Gilbert, 
Dawson,  Abbott  (Philochristus),  Briggs  (New  Light  on 
the  Life  of  Christ),  Matheson  (Studies  in  the  Portrait  of 
Christ),  Bennett  (The  Life  of  Christ  According  to  St. 
Mark),  Garvie  (Studies  in  the  Inner  Life  of  Jesus),  H.  J. 
Holtzmann  (Das  Messianische  Bewusstsein  Jesu),  Parkin 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  2/9 

(The  New  Testament  Portrait  of  Jesus),  Selbie  (The  Life 
and  Teaching  of  Jesus  Christ),  Forrest  (The  Christ  of 
History  and  of  Experience). 

V.  Works  on  the  Teaching  of  Jesus. 

Wendt  (The  Teaching  of  Jesus),  Bruce  (The  Kingdom 
of  God,  The  Training  of  the  Twelve,  The  ParaboHc  Teach- 
ing of  Christ,  With  Open  Face),  Stevens,  Gilbert  (The 
Revelation  of  Jesus),  Horton,  Jackson,  Svvete,  Latham 
(Pastor  Pastorum),  Walker,  Moorhouse,  von  Schrenck 
(Jesus  and  His  Teaching),  Brooks  (The  Influence  of 
Jesus),  Tolstoy  (My  Religion),  Pullan,  Ross,  Contentio 
Veritatis  (has  one  essay  on  The  Teaching  of  Christ), 
Muirhead  (The  Eschatology  of  Jesus),  Goebel  (The 
Parables  of  Jesus),  Jiilicher  (Die  Gleichnisreden  Jesu), 
Dods  (The  Parables  of  Our  Lord),  Harnack  (The  Sayings 
of  Jesus),  The  Creed  of  Christ.  For  the  extensive  and 
important  literature  on  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  see 
Votaw's  article  in  the  extra  volume  of  Hastings'  Dictionary 
of  the  Bible. 

VI.  Works  on  the  Ethics  of  Jesus. 

The  inductive  study  of  the  ethics  of  Jesus,  and  indeed 
of  Christian  ethics  is,  as  Professor  Peabody  remarks  (Jesus 
Christ  and  the  Christian  Character,  pp.  21,  23,  26),  a 
comparatively  recent  study,  and  the  specific  Hterature 
covering  the  whole  field  is  not  large. 

Briggs  (The  Ethical  Teaching  of  Jesus) ,  Peabody  (Jesus 
Christ  and  the  Christian  Character,  Jesus  Christ  and  the 
Social  Question),  Stalker  (Imago  Christi,  and  The  Ethics 
of  Jesus  [announced]),  Herrmann  (Ethik,  Faith  and 
Morals,  Die  sittlichen  Weisungen  Jesu  :  Ihr  richtiger  und 
ihr  falscher   Gebrauch),  A.  Rau  (Die  Ethik  Jesu),  E. 


280  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Grimm  (Die  Ethik  Jesu),  Ehrhardt  (Der  Grundcharakter 
der  Ethik  Jesu,  im  Verhaltniss  zu  den  Messianischen 
Hoffnungen  seines  Volkes  und  zu  seinem  eigenen  Messi- 
anbewusstsein),  Seeley  (Ecce  Homo,  pp.  ii8  ff.),  Brooks 
(The  Influence  of  Jesus,  lectures  i  and  2),  F.  P.  Cobbe 
(Studies  New  and  Old,  chapter  on  "  Christian  Ethics  and 
the  Ethics  of  Christ"),  Feddersen  (Jesus  und  die  sozialen 
Dinge),  Mathews  (The  Social  Teaching  of  Jesus),  Heuver 
(The  Teachings  of  Jesus  concerning  Wealth),  Horton 
(Commandments  of  Jesus),  Dale  (Laws  of  Christ  for 
Common  Life),  Gardner  (Exploratio  Evangelica,  has 
special  chapter  on  "The  Ethics  of  Jesus,"  pp.  193  ff.). 

Some  of  the  most  valuable  material  on  the  ethics  of 
Jesus  is  to  be  found  in  the  special  articles  in  the  Bible 
dictionaries  and  religious  encyclopaedias  (Hastings'  Dic- 
tionary of  the  Bible,  Dictionary  of  Christ  and  the  Gospels, 
Encyclopaedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  The  Encyclopaedia 
Biblica,  the  New  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopaedia  of  Religious 
Knowledge,  etc.),  especially  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the 
Bible,  and  the  Dictionary  of  Christ  and  the  Gospels.  See 
index  of  the  Dictionary  of  the  Bible  under  "  Jesus  Christ, 
teaching  of;"  and  the  various  articles  on  "Ethics," 
"  Jesus  Christ,"  "  Sermon  on  the  Mount,"  and  "  Lord's 
Prayer,"  in  H.  D.  B.,  D.  C.  G.,  the  Encyclopaedia  Biblica, 
and  the  new  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopaedia,  and  note  the 
many  articles  on  various  ethical  topics,  especially  in  tlie 
Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  and  in  the  Dictionary 
of  Christ  and  the  Gospels,  such  as  "Asceticism," 
"Almsgiving,"  "Brotherhood,"  "Care,"  "Conscience," 
"Common  Life,"  "Commandments,"  "Forgiveness," 
"Friendship,"  "Ideal,"  "Love,"  "Meekness,"  "Per- 
sonality," "  Purity,"  "  Righteousness,"  "  Self-denial," 
"Truth,"  etc. 


INDEX 


Abbott,  E.  A.,  58,  78,  120. 
Accommodation,  Willia,  note,  50. 
Addams,  Jane,  note,  246 
Adeney,  194. 
Allen,  note,  12,  68,  191,  192,  193; 

Analysis  of  Matthew,  145. 
Ambition,  134. 
American   Journal   of   Theology, 

note,  78,  91,  197. 
Apologetic,    in    New  Testament, 

31- 
"Apostles,"  Patrick,  note,  49. 
Asceticism,  note,  66;  loi,  139. 
Augustine,  note,  242. 

Background  of  the  Gospels,  The, 

Fairweather,  note,  63. 
Bacon,  note,  9,  10,  12,  62,  88,  91, 

194. 
Ballantine,  61. 
Bampton  Lectures,  The  Reproach 

of  the  Gospel,  4. 
Bartlet,  note,  50,  63,  267. 
Basic  qualities,  204-231. 
Beatitudes,  204-231 ;  as  a  progress, 

213. 
Bebb,  note,  152. 
Beecher,  209. 

Bennett,  note,  41,  58,  63,  120. 
Bethune-Baker,  99. 
Beyschlag,  note,  79,  255. 
Biblical    Theology    of   the    New 

Testament,    The,    Gould,    note, 

243- 
Biblical  World,  note,  62. 
Bibliography,  277-280. 
Bosworth,  note,  186. 
Bousset,  note,  49,  62,  201. 
Bowne,  note,  50. 
Boys-Smith,  note,  211. 


Briggs,  note,  36,  51,  66,  78. 
Brooke,  S.  A.,  note,  136. 
Brooks,  note,  134,  201. 
Brotherhood,  244,  257,  259,  264. 
Browning,  128,  252. 
Bruce,  51,  79,  95,  106,  119,  255. 
Burkitt,  F.  C,  i,  8,  12,  13,  14,  29, 

51,  52-54;  56>  63,93,  121- 
Burton,  note,  68. 
Bushnell,  note,  20,  201. 

Cambridge     Theological    Essays, 

note,  31. 
Carpenter,  J.  E.,  197. 
Catholicism,  81. 
Character,  204,  230. 
Character    of   Christ,    The,    Kil- 

patrick,  note,  49,  50, 
Character  of  Jesus,  The,  Jefferson, 

note,  20. 
Child,  the,  135;  emancipation  of, 

136;   qualities  of,  143,  150. 
Christ,  see  Jesus;   doctrine  of  the 

person  of,  16. 
Christ    of  History   and   Experi- 
ence, The,  Forrest,  note,  50,  51. 
Christian  Ethics,  Martensen,  note, 

37,  78. 
Christian  Ethics,  Strong,  T.  B., 

note,  201. 
Christian   Life   in   the   Primitive 

Church,  Dobschutz,  note,  66. 
Christian  Method  of  Ethics,  The, 

Clark,  80. 
Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis^ 

Rauschenbusch,  note,   51,   138, 

142,  201,  265. 
Church  and  Modern  Life,    The, 

Gladden,  note,  201,  242, 
Clark,  80. 


281 


282 


INDEX 


Clouslon,  note,  50. 

Coe,  note,  257. 

Communion  of  the  Christian  with 

God,  Herrmann,  note,  266. 
Consequences,  law  of,  74. 
Contentio  Veritatis,  note,  17. 
Contagion  of  the  good,  68,  76,  83. 
Covetousness,  174. 
Creed  of  Christ,  The,  note,  40,  50, 

73,  151,  200. 
Critical  position,  9. 
Culture  of  Justice,  The,  Du  Bois, 

note,  275. 

Dale,  note,  50,  78,  256. 

D'Arcy,  note,  267. 

Davidson,  W.  T.,  note,  38. 

Dewey,  note,  78,  252. 

Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  Hastings, 
note,  9,  16,  43,  91,  99,  133,  152, 
191,  207,  275. 

Dictionary  of  Christ  and  the  Gos- 
pels, Hastings,  note,  2,  9,  10,  17, 
18,  49,  50,  62,  63,  66,  102,  127, 
147,  152,  194,  197.  209.  211, 
266,  267. 

"Divorce,"  Burton,  on,  note,  68. 

Dobschiitz,  note,  66. 

Dods,  note,  187. 

Dole,  note,  5,  78. 

"Doubly  Attested  Sayings,"  8,  13, 
14,  52-86,  114;  form  of,  55; 
fundamental  laws  of,  56;  unity 
of,  83;  compared,  188,  268. 

Drummond,  85,  202,  219. 

Du  Bois,  note,  275. 

Dudden,  note,  66. 

Dunn,  81. 

Duty,  104,  122,  241,  256,  274. 

Eaton,  note,  43. 

EcceHomo,  note,  49,  50,  51,  78, 95, 

99,  108,  201,  25s,  273. 
Education  of  Christ,  The,  Ramsay, 

note,  133. 
Education  in  Religion  and  Morals, 

Coe,  note,  257. 
Efficiency,  law  of,  75,  82. 


Ehrhardt,  note,  63. 
Eliot,  George,  226. 
Encyclopedia  Biblica,   note,    147, 

148. 
"End  Ethics,"  4. 
Erskine,  167. 

Eschatological  teaching,  20. 
Eschatology  of  Jesus,  The,  Muir- 

head,  note,  62,  63;  Jewish,  63. 
Ethik,  Herrmann,  81. 
Ethical  Teaching  of  Jesus,  The, 

Briggs,  note,  36,  51,  66,  78. 
Ethics  and  Revelation,  Nash,  note, 

50,  78. 
Ethics    of    the    Christian    Life, 

Haering,  note,  79,  132,  253,  255. 
Exploratio   Evangelica,    Gardner, 

note,  32,  50,  134,  197- 
Expository  Times,  note,  9,  11,  83. 

Facts  of  Moral  Life,  The,  Wundt, 

note,  197. 
Fairbairn,  note,  51,  91,  200,  272. 
Fairweather,  note,  63. 
Faith    and    Morals,    Herrmann, 

note,  36,  49,  50.  81,  123,  256. 
Faith,  law  of,  74 ;  in  men,  93 ;  in 

God,  93. 
Falseness,  68,  260. 
Fasting,  116. 
Findlay,  209. 
Forgiveness,  duty  of,  100. 
"Forgiveness,"     Davidson,    note^ 

38;  Bethune-Baker,  note,  99. 
Forrest,  note,  50. 
Foster,  note,  44,  78. 
"Foundation-pillar"         passages, 

Schmiedel,  8,  10,  11,  13,  33-52; 

Sanday  on,  11. 
Freedom,  a  new,  242. 
Freedom  of  Faith,  The,  Munger, 

note,  20. 
Fremantle,  note,  131. 
Future,    The   Teaching  of  Jesus 

about  the,  Sharman,  note,  63. 

Gardner,  note,  32,  50,  134,  197. 
Gaxvie,  note,  9. 


INDEX 


283 


Gilbert,  note,  17. 

Gladden,  note,  201,  242. 

Gladstone,  187. 

Goal,  laws  of  the,  77. 

God,  holiness  of,  37;  as  Father, 
77,  243,  249,  254,  259,  263,  271; 
as  taskmaster,  165;  sharing  life 
of,  227. 

Good,  triumph  of  the,  77;  con- 
tagion of,  68,  229. 

Gore,  note,  67,  242. 

Gospel  and  the  Church,  The, 
Loisy,  note,  275. 

Gospel  History  and  Its  Transmis- 
sion, The,  Burkett,  note,  14,  15, 
29.  55.  56,  63,  79,  120,  121. 

Gould,  note,  65,  126,  243. 

Grace,  parables  of,  156. 

Growth,  law  of,  61,  74. 

Grundcharakter  der  Ethik  Jesu, 
Der,  Ehrhardt,  note,  63. 

Habit,  law  of,  61,  74,  82. 
Haering,  note,  79,  132,  253,  255. 
Handbook    of    Christian    Ethics, 

Murray,  note,  69,  78,  138,  201. 
Happiness,  204,  216  flF.,  230. 
Harnack,  note,  12,  29,  31,  41,  50, 

51,  55,  62,  65,  66,  81,  87,  88,  90, 

95.  105.  133.  134,  191.  192.  194, 
197,  201,  255,  257,  268,  275. 

Harris,  note,  50,  134,  275. 

Hastings,  see  under  Dictionary  of 
the  Bible;  Dictionary  of  Christ 
and  the  Gospels. 

Hawkins,  10,  note,  55,  152,  155. 

Hegel,  270. 

Herrmann,  35,  note,  36,  49,  50,  81, 
123,  256,  266. 

Hibbert  Journal,  4,  note,  64,  66, 
81,  127,  131,  137,  270. 

Hinton,  226. 

Historical  New  Testament,  note, 
10. 

History  of  Early  Christian  Litera- 
ture, Von  Soden,  note  88. 

History  of  New  Testament  Times 
in  Palestine,  Mathews,  note,  96. 


Holiness,  162. 

Holy  Spirit,  importance  of,  37. 

Horae  Synopticae,  Hawkins,  note, 
152. 

Horton,  note,  3,  19. 

Humility,  214,  217. 

Hygiene  of  the  Mind,  The,  Clous- 
ton,  note,  50. 

Ideal  Life,  The,  Drummond,  note, 
85,  202. 

Imago  Christi,  Stalker,  note,  20. 

Impurity,  258. 

Inferences,  ethical,  from  "founda- 
tion-pillars," 46-52. 

Influence,  204,  228-231. 

Influence  of  Jesus,  The,  Brooks, 
note,  134,  201. 

Inner  light,  fidelity  to,  79. 

Integrity  of  life,  76,  80. 

International  Critical  Commen- 
tary, see  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke. 

Introduction  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment, Bacon,  note,  88. 

Introduction  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment, An,  Jiilicher,  note,  12, 
88. 

Inwardness  and  independence  of 
moral  life,  73,  81,  83,  97. 

Jefferson,  C.  E.,  note,  20. 

Jerusalem,  G.  A.  Smith,  note,  63. 

Jesus  and  his  Teaching,  Von 
Schrenck,  note,  275. 

Jesus,  Bousset,  note,  49,  62. 

Jesus  Christ  and  the  Christian 
Character,  Peabody,  note,  50,  66, 
73.  78,  131.  197,  275. 

Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Ques- 
tion, Peabody,  note,  68,  133, 138, 
139,  255. 

Jesus,  historicity  and  credibility  of 
personality,  2;  teaching  of,  2; 
ethics  of,  criticised,  4 ;  claims  of, 
in  Luke,  31 ;  earnestness  of,  35; 
character  as  a  whole,  35 ;  unique 
consciousness,  36,  49,  50,  51; 
as   a  worker  of  wonders,   40; 


284 


INDEX 


greatness  of,  43;  authority  of, 
43,  48,  51;  compassion  of, 
44-45,  48,  51;  ability  to  give 
rest,  46;  earnestness  of,  47; 
moral  and  spiritual  independ- 
ence, 47 ;  confidence  in  his  own 
mission,  47;  insight,  51;  temp- 
tation of,  91;  consciousness  of 
power,  mission,  sonship,  91; 
message  of,  114,  143;  method 
of,  115,  143;  purpose  of,  115, 
143;  consistency,  119;  original- 
ity, 197  flf.;  ethical  system, 
274  ff. 
Jesus  in  Modern  Criticism^ 
Schmiedel,  note,  10,  15,  32,  33, 

37,  39.  46. 

"Jesus  or  Christ,"  note,  4,  137. 

Jewish  literature,  influence  of,  3. 

John,  see  Index  of  Biblical  Refer- 
ences. 

Judgment,  146,  173. 

Jiilicher,  note,  12,  88,  197. 

Kilpatrick,  note,  49,  50,  275. 

King,  note,  201. 

Kingdom    of   God,    The,    Bruce, 

note,  79,  95,  255. 
Kingdom  of  God,  62;   growth  of, 

63- 

Latham,  note,  50. 

Law,  in  the  spiritual  world,  73; 

extension  of,  240. 
Laws  of  Christ  for  Common  Life, 

Dale,  note,  50,  78,  256. 
Laws  of  Friendship,  King,  note, 

201. 
Lecky,  199. 
Lessing,  note,  130. 
Life,  laws  of,  in  "  Doubly  Attested 

Sayings,"     56,    65,     73-77;    in 

Matthew,  149. 
Life   of  Christ   According  to   St. 

Mark,  Bennett,  note,  41,  58,  63, 

120. 
Life  of  Christ  in  Recent  Research, 

Sanday,  note,  9,  12;  note,  51. 


Life,  values  of,  105 ;  paradox  of, 
127;  dwindling,  129;  unity  of, 
186. 

Literary  Illustrations  of  the  Bible: 
St.  Luke,  Moffatt,  note,  167. 

Literature,  on  ethics  of  Jesus,  i; 
Jewish,  3. 

Logia,  note,  9, 10. 

Loisy,  12,  note,  275. 

"Lord's  Prayer,"  Nestle,  note, 
62. 

Lotze,  note,  120,  197,  198. 

Love,  emphasis  on,  30 ;  as  life,  31 ; 
supremacy  of,  73;  service  of, 
79;  seeking  and  forgiving,  99, 
173;  life  of  God,  128;  the  great 
commandment  of,  131,  144; 
goal  of  life,  149;  in  relations  to 
others,  150,  see  also  156 ;  of  God, 
167;  above  institutions,  171; 
sum  of  all,  205;  sacrificial,  215, 
226;  the  ultimate  problem  of 
living,  232  £f.,  250,  255,  271. 

Luke,  see  Index  of  Biblical  Refer- 
ences; outline  of  entire  teaching 
in,  21-28;  peculiar  teaching  in, 
152-190;  iee  Plummer. 

Macfadyen,  note,  83. 
McGiffert,  note,  197. 
Mackenzie,  note,  17,  50. 
Manual    of    Ethics,    Mackenzie, 

note,  17,  50. 
Mark,     see     Index     of     Biblical 

References;   Gould  on,  65,  126; 

ethical    teaching    of,    108-144; 

summary  of  teaching,  143. 
Marriage,  69,  137. 
Martensen,  note,  37,  78. 
Martineau,  178. 
Matheson,  note,  41,  156. 
Mathews,  note,  51,  63,  65,  66,  69, 

96,  142,  255. 
Matthew,   see   Index   of   Biblical 

References;    Allen  on,   12,  68, 

147,  191 ;  ethical  teaching,  145- 

152;  see  H.  B.  D. 
Maurice,  note,  131. 


INDEX 


285 


Meekness,  208,  218. 

Menzies,  noie,  10. 

Mercy,  146,  154,  210,  221. 

Messianic  Hope  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, The,  Mathews,  note,  51, 
63,  66. 

Microcosmus,  Lotze,  note,  197, 198. 

Miracle  working  of  Jesus,  40. 

Moberly,  209. 

Mofifatt,  note,  10,  121,  167. 

Money,  185. 

Moral  Evolution,  Harris,  note,  50, 

134,  275- 
Muirhead,  note,  62,  63,  270. 
Munger,  note,  20. 
Murray,  note,  69,  78,  138,  201. 
Mustard   Seed,    parable    of,    62, 

142. 

Nash,  note,  50,  78. 

Nestle,  note,  62 ;  88. 

New    Testament    Theology,    Bey- 

schlag,  note,  79,  255. 
Newer  Ideals  of  Peace,  Addams, 

note,  246. 
Nicene  and  Ante-Nicene  Fathers, 

note,  242. 

Outlines  of  Ethics,  Dewey,  note, 
78. 

Outlines  of  a  Philosophy  of  Reli- 
gion, Sabatier,  note,  271. 

Palmer,  16. 

Parable,  use  of,  58,  63 ;  of  talents, 
106;  of  fig  tree,  107;  of  sower, 
of  light,  of  fruit-bearing  earth, 
of  mustard  seed,  142;  unfor- 
giving servant,  laborers  in  the 
vineyard,  two  sons,  ten  virgins, 
146;  of  grace,  156,  187;  two 
debtors,  158;  Good  Samaritan, 
159;  lost  sheep,  lost  coin,  lost 
son,  161  ff. ;  ethical  teaching  of 
Luke  15,  161;  of  rich  fool,  174; 
of  watchful  servants,  175;  bar- 
ren fig  tree,  178;  rash  builder, 
rash  king,  180;    extra   service. 


182;  unrighteous  steward,  183; 

Dives    and    Lazarus,    187;     of 

warning,  summary,  187. 
Parables  of  Our  Lord,  The,  Dods, 

note,  187. 
Paradox  of  life,  127. 
Pastor  Pastorum,    Latham,   note, 

50- 
Patrick,  note,  49. 
Paulus  and  Jesus,  Jtilicher,  note, 

197. 
Peabody,  note,  50,  66,  68,  73,  78, 

106, 131,  133,  138, 139, 17s,  197, 

255.  275- 
Peacemaker,  212,  215,  225. 
Peile,  4,  note,  138,  139. 
Peirce,  C.  S.,  note,  64. 
Penitence,  214,  217. 
Personality  of  Jesus,  historicity  of, 

2. 
Pfleiderer,  164. 
Pharisees,  teaching  of,  42 ;    Eaton 

on,  43 ;  spirit  of,  94 ;  crisis  with, 

120;  literature  on,  121. 
Philochristus,  note,  50,  58,  120. 
Philosophy  of  Loyalty,  The,  Royce, 

note,  49. 
Place  of  Christ  in  Modern  Theol- 
ogy, Fairbaim,  note, gi, 200,  272. 
Plummer,  12,  note,  152;   167,  183. 
Practical  Philosophy,  'Lotze,  note, 

120,  201. 
Principles  of  Ethics,  The,  Bowne, 

note,  50. 
Priority  by  service,  law  of,  71,  76, 

83,  134. 
Prophet     of      Nazareth,       The, 

Schmidt,  note,  49,   130. 
Protestantism,  81. 
Proverb,  102,  127. 
Purity,  210,  223. 

"Q,"  symbol  for  source-docu- 
ment, 9;  reconstruction  of,  10; 
Harnack  on,  11,  28;  reference 
to,  14,  28,  54,  55;  ethical  teach- 
ing in,  87-108,  114,  129,  144, 
191,  192,  268. 


286 


INDEX 


Ramsay,  12,  noie,  133. 
Rauschenbusch,  noie,  51, 138, 142, 

201,  265, 
Religions    of  Authority   and   the 

Religion  of  the  Spirit,  Sabatier, 

note,  44. 
Religion,  absolute,  31. 
Reproach  of  the  Gospel,  The,  note, 

4,  138,  139. 
Resch,  10. 

Resurrection,  Tolstoy,  157. 
Retaliation,  263,  265. 
Reverence  for  the  person,  76,  83, 

223. 
Review     of    Evolutional    Ethics, 

Williams,  note,  68. 
Review  of  Theology  and  Philoso- 
phy, note,  10,  63,  121. 
Reville,  10. 
Roberts,  note,  18. 
Romanes,  199. 
Ross,  note,  19,  134. 
Rowland,  note,  50. 
Royce,  note,  49. 

Sabatier,  note,  44,  271. 

Sabbath,  58,  116,  119,  120. 

Sadducees,  note,  121. 

Salmon,  12. 

Sanday,  note,  9,  10,  12,  51,  91. 

Sayings  of  Jesus,  The,  Harnack, 
note,  12,  29,  31,  55,  65,  87,  88, 
90,  191,  192,  194,  268. 

Schmidt,  note,  49,  130,  275. 

Schmiedel,  8,  10,  11,  13,  33-52,  57, 
85,  87,  113,  268;  Jesus  in 
Modern  Criticism,  note,  10,  15, 
32,  33,  37,  39,  46;  inferences 
from  "foundation-pillars,"  46. 

Scott,  note,  31. 

Scudder,  note,  131. 

Self-control,  214. 

Self-reverence,  249. 

Self-sacrifice,  law  of,  75;  demand 
for,  102;  motives  to,  103; 
modern  need  of,  129. 

Sermon  on  the  Mount,  8,  20,  43; 
Gore  on,  note,  67,  242;  Votaw 


on,  133;  as  a  whole,  191-203; 
outline  of,  195-196;  Adeney 
on,  note,  194;  Bacon  on,  194, 
200;  Jesus'  discoveries  in,  196, 
200;  the  Beatitudes,  232-266; 
motives  to  living,  255  ff.;  con- 
clusion on,  267  ff. 

Sermons  for  the  New  Life,  Bush- 
nell,  note,  20,  201. 

Service,  law  of,  70;   demand  for, 

135- 
Seth,  James,  note,  66. 
Shairp,  note,  78. 
Sham,  68. 

Sharing  good,  law  of,  75,  83. 
Sharman,  note,  63. 
Silanus    the    Christian,    Abbott, 

note,  78. 
Sin,  eternal,  38. 
Smith,  D.,  note,  102,  127. 
Smith,  G.  A.,  note,  63, 
Social    Morality,   Maurice,    note, 

131- 
Social  Teaching  of  Jesus,  Mathews, 

note,  65,  69,  139,  142,  255. 
Sources  of  our  Knowledge  of  the 

Teaching    of    Jesus,    Wernle, 

note,  12. 
Sources  of  teaching  of  Jesus,  8; 

Sanday  on,  9;  Wright  on,  9. 
Spirit  of  Democracy,  The,  Dole, 

note,  78. 
Stalker,  note,  20. 
Stanton,  note,  9. 
State,  duty  to  the,  141. 
Stevens,  note,  51,  66,  275. 
Stewart,  197. 
Strong,  note,  16,  201. 
Studies    in    the    Life    of   Christ, 

Fairbairn,  note,  51. 
Studies  in  Poetry  and  Philosophy, 

Shairp,  note,  78. 
Studies  in  the  Portrait  of  Christ, 

Matheson,  note,  41,  156. 
Studies  in  the  Teaching  of  Jesus 

and    his    Apostles,    Bosworth, 

note,  186. 
Studies  in  the  Teaching  of  Our 


INDEX 


287 


Lord^  Swete,  note,  50,  51,  152, 

154. 
Swete,  note,  50,  51,  152,  154. 
Synoptic  Gospels,  10,  113. 

Talents,  parable  of,  106. 

Talmud,  60. 

Teaching  of  Jesus,  see  contents; 
historical  interpretation  of,  3; 
psychological  interpretation  of, 
3 ;  application  of,  5 ;  criteria  of, 
8;  limitation  of,  11,  17;  ethical 
and  religious,  17,  50;  eschato- 
logical,  20,  62;  in  Luke,  21-28; 
amount  and  permanence  of  the 
ethical,  28;  on  wonder-working, 
40;  on  inwardness  of  the  reli- 
gious life,  40,  41,  49,  73,  81,  83, 
97,126;  new  and  revolutionary, 
48,  116;  supremacy  of  ethical 
and  simply  religious,  48;  on 
integrity  of  life,  49;  reverence 
for  the  person,  50,  76;  in  con- 
trast to  teaching  of  his  times,  50 ; 
Bartlet  on,  50,  63,  267;  demand 
for  compassion,  5 1 ;  on  Sabbath, 
58,  116,  119,  120;  uselessness 
of  "hoarding,"  58;  asceticism, 
66,  loi,  137;  contagion  of  the 
good,  68,  77;  marriage,  69, 137; 
service,  70;  love,  73,  78;  candor, 
84;  watchfulness,  77,  82,  85; 
Pharisaic  spirit,  94 ;  traditional- 
ism, 98,  124;  self-sacrifice,  102; 
earnestness  of  life,  105;  fast- 
ing, 116;  rejoicing  sonship,  116; 
social  applications  of,  133;  am- 
bition, 134;  the  child,  135; 
warning  judgment,  146;  mercy, 
146,  210;  humility,  146,  214;  for- 
giveness, 146 ;  holiness,  162 ;  cov- 
etousness,  174;  meekness,  208; 
purity,  210;  unity  of ,  270,  273. 

Teaching  of  Jesus,  The,  Horton, 
note,  3,  19;  Ross,  note,  19,  134; 
Stevens,  note,  51,  66;  Wendt, 
note,  50,  55,  197,  200,  256,  257, 
270,  271,  275. 


Temptation,  narrative  of  the,  91. 

Temptations,  247. 

Theology  of  the  New  Testament, 

The,  Stevens,  note,  66,  275. 
Tholuck,  note,  206,  208. 
Thomas,  209. 
Tolerance,  136,  161. 
Tolstoy,  6,  157;  note,  130. 
Traditionalism,  98,  121,  124. 
Training    of   the    Twelve,    The, 

Bruce,  note,  41,  51. 
Truth,  emphasis  on,  29. 

Ungirt  life,  176. 

Unity  of  life,  80,  234,  255,  263. 

Urmarcus,  9. 

Ultimate  problem.  The,  232. 

Use,  law  of,  74,  82. 

Utterance,  law  of,  76. 

Von  Schrenk,  note,  275. 

Von  Soden,  note,  88. 

Votaw,  note,  133,  191,  192,  193, 

194,   196,   197,   207,   208,   217, 

318,  265. 

Warning,  146,  154,  i73- 

Watchfulness,  law  of,  77,  82. 

Wealth,  138,  183. 

Weiss,  B.,  10. 

Weiss,  J.,  note,  17,  266. 

Wellhausen,  10,  88,  197. 

Wendt,  10;  note,  50,  55,  197,  200, 
256,  257,  270,  271,  275. 

Wernle,  10,  note,  12,  55,  88,  152. 

What  is  Christianity?  Harnack, 
note,  41,  50,  51,  62,  65,  81,  133, 
134,  197,  201,  255,  257,  275. 

White,  note,  9. 

Willia,  note,  50. 

Williams,  note,  68. 

World's  code,  216. 

World  as  the  Subject  of  Redemp- 
tion, The,  Fremantle,  note^  131. 

Wright,  9,  10,  12;   note,  152. 

Wundt,  note,  197. 


INDEX   OF  SCRIPTURE  REFER- 
ENCES 


.  4 

■4 

90 

Matt.  5  :  32 

68,  201 

4 

•7 

90 

5  :  32-37 

238,  260 

4 

lO 

90 

5  :34 

200 

5 

1-48 

196 

5  :  34-36 

261,  263 

5 

3-4 

213 

5:37 

201,  202,  235, 

5 

3-12 

200,  201 

255,  262 

5 

•3-16 

195,  201 

5  :  38-42 

263 

5 

S-12 

213 

5  :  38-48 

239 

5 

8 

201 

5:39 

200 

5 

9 

249.  2SS 

5  :  39-42 

201,  202,  241, 

5 

13 

200 

253,  255.  264 

5 

16 

249,  255 

5  =44 

200,  244 

5 

17 

200 

238,  241 

5  :  44-47 

202,  257 

5 

17-20 

256 

5 : 44-48 

201,  249,  253, 

5 

17-48 

19s, 

200,  202 

255,  265 

5 

17-7  :  27 

195 

5:45 

201,  202 

5 

18 

238 

241,  255 

5:47 

244 

5 

18-19 

193,  201 

5:48 

201,  235,  255 

5 

:i9 

234 

241,  255 

6:  I 

200 

202,  235,  239, 

S 

20 

238,  257 

249,  255,  256 

5 

21-22 

241 

6  :  1-34 

196,  202 

5 

21-26 

238 

6:2 

200 

5 

21-42 

233.  257 

6  :  2-34 

256 

5 

21-48 

256 

6:4 

201, 

202,  235,  239, 

S 

22 

200, 

201,  234, 
255,257 

6  :  5-21 

249 

253,  255,  256 
200 

S 

22-24 

202,  244 

6:6 

201, 

202,  235,  239, 

5 

23-24 

200, 

249,  251, 
257,  265 

6:7 

249 

253,  255,  256 
200,  256 

5 

25-26 

192 

6:8 

249,  255 

5 

26 

201, 

234,  255 

6:9 

255 

5 

27-30 

238 

6  :  9-13 

200,  249, 

5 

28 

200, 

201,  255 

253, 255 

5 

28-30 

258 

6:14 

249,250,251, 

5 

29-30 

200, 

201,  235, 
255 

6:15 

255,265 
249,  250,  251, 

5 

31-32 

u 

192 

193, 200 
28 

59 

255,265 

290 


INDEX   OF    SCRIPTURE    REFERENCES 


Matt.  6 


6 :  i8    202 

.239 

249.253. 
255.256 

6  :  19-21 

239 

6  :  19-34 

202 

6:21 

256 

6  :  22-23 

85 

6  :  22-24 

201 

235,  255 

6:25 

200 

6  :  25-34  20c 

,250 

.253.255 

7:1-5 

196 

7:1-6 

258 

7  :  1-12 

233 

7  :  1-14 

201 

7  :  1-27 

196,  201 

7:3 

257 

7:3-5 

244 

7:4 

257 

7  :  5    201, 

235, 

255.  257 

7:6 

192,  249 

7:6-27 

196 

7:7-11  192, 

200, 

202,  249 

7  :  12   200, 

201, 

235,  245. 
255.  257 

7:13 

201, 

235,  255 

7  :  13-27 

273 

7:14 

201, 

235.  239. 
255,256 

7 : 20-27 

200 

7:21 

256 

7  :  21-23 

239 

7  :  22-23 

192 

7:24 

256 

7  :  29      35,  42 

,  48,  200 

8 : 19-22 

89,90 

9 : 37-38 

89,90 

10:7 

89 

10  :  10 

89 

10  :  12 

89 

10:  13 

89 

10:  IS 

89 

10  :  16 

89. 

102, 145. 
147. 150 

10  :  16-19 

lOI 

10  :  24-25 

103 

10  :  24-39 

90 

10  :  24-40 

89 

10  :  26-33 

103 

10  :  32-33 

129 

Matt.  10 


10 

: 34-39 

104 

10 

:4i 

147,  150 

II 

:  2-6 

25.  42,  48 

II 

:2-i3 

89,90 

II 

:  16-19 

90 

II 

:  16-27 

89 

II 

:  20-24 

90 

II 

: 25-27 

90 

II 

128 

35.  45.  49 

12 

:  7 

146 

147.  150 

12 

:  11-12 

146, 

147.  150 

12 

:25 

89 

12 

:  27-30 

89 

12 

:  32   32, 

34,  37,  47,  89 

12 

=  33 

89 

12 

: 36-37 

146,  150 

12 

:  38-45 

89 

12 

:40 

40 

13 

10 

120 

13 

16-17 

89,90 

13 

31-33 

89 

13 

51-52 

145.  150 

15 

13 

145. 

146,  149 

IS 

14 

89,  90,  99 

16 

5-12 

33.  42,  48 

17 

20 

89,90 

18 

3-4 

145. 

146,  150 

18 

7 

89,90 

18 

10   145, 

146, 

150,  151 

18 

12 

89 

,  90,  100 

18 

13 

85 

,  90,  100 

18 

14   145, 

146, 

150,  151 

18 

15 

89 

,  90,  100 

18 

21 

89 

,  90,  100 

18: 

22 

89 

,  90,  100 

18: 

23-25 

145,  147, 
150,  151 

19: 

3-9 

68 

19: 

12 

145.  149 

19: 

28 

89 

20  : 

1-15 

145, 

146,  149 

21  : 

16 

145.  150 

21  : 

28-31 

145.  150 

21  : 

31-32 

151 

21  : 

32 

89,  90 

22  : 

2-11 

89 

,  90,  105 

22  : 

40   146, 

147. 

149,  150 

23: 

2-3 

146,  150 

INDEX   OF   SCRIPTURE    REFERENCES 


291 


Matt.  23  :  3 

149 

Mark  3  :  33-35 

112 

23:4 

89,  90,  95 

4  :  1-34 

109 

23:5 

146,  149 

4:3-9 

54,  "2 

23  :  7-10 

146,  150 

4:9-11 

120 

23:  12 

89,  90,  95 

4  :  11-20 

112 

23:13 

89. 

90.  95,  96 

4:21 

52,58 

23  :  15-22 

146,  149 

4  :  21-25 

112 

23:23 

89, 

90,  95,  96 

4:22 

52,59 

23:24 

142 

,  146,  149 

4  :  22-24 

120 

23:25 

97 

4:23 

52,59 

23  : 25-36 

90,95 

4:24 

53 

23  :  25-39 

89 

4  :  24b 

59 

23:27 

97,98 

4:25 

53,61 

23  :28 

149 

4  :  26-29 

113,  120 

23  :  29-31 

98 

4  :  30-32 

53,  62,  112 

^3  :  32-33 

146,  149 

4  :  33-34 

120 

24  :  26-28 

89 

6:4 

55,  I" 

.      24  :  37-41 

89 

6:5-6 

35.  41,  47 

24  :  43-51 

89 

6:8-11 

112 

25  :  1-13 

146 

,  147, 149 

6:  10 

64 

25  :  13-46 

146 

147,  149 

6  :  lo-i I 

53 

25  :  14-30 

89,90 

6:34 

35,  44,  48 

25:31-46 

150,  160 

7 : 1-23 

121,  124 

Mark  i  :  14-4  :  34 

108 

7:1-9:1 

109 

I  :  14-15 

108 

7  :  6-15 

112 

I  :  15-17 

112 

7  :  14-23 

114 

I  :i4 

118 

7  :  18-23 

112 

1:15 

114 

8:11-13 

125 

I  :i7 

108 

8:12 

34,  40,  47,  112 

1:38 

112, 

114,  "5 

8:  12b 

55 

2 : 17         108 

112, 

114,  115 

8:15 

55,  125 

2  :  19-22 

112 

8:  17-21 

112 

2  :  19-3  :  6 

108 

8:34 

53,  64,  112 

2  :  22 

118 

8  :  35-36 

112,  127 

2  :  23-3  :  6 

119 

8  :  35-37 

"3,  114 

2  :  25-28 

112 

8  :  37-38 

112 

2:27 

113,  "9 

9  :  30-50 

108 

3:2-6 

58 

9  :  33-37 

134 

3:4              5 

2.58, 

112,  119 

9  :  35-36 

112 

3:6 

120 

9  :  36-37 

135 

3:21 

34,  35,  46  1 

9:37 

112 

3  :  22-26 

55 

9  :  38-41 

136 

3  :  22-30 

108 

9  :  39-50 

112 

3  :  23-29 

112 

9:42 

53,66 

3:27 

55 

9  :  43-48 

53,66 

3 : 28-30 

55 

9:49 

113,  114,  127 

3  :  31-34 

55 

9:50a 

67 

3  :  31-3S 

34,  35,  46,  109  I 

9:50 

54 

292 


INDEX    OF    SCRIPTURE    REFERENCES 


Mark  9  :  50b 

113,  114,  127 

Luke  6  :  37-45 

30 

10  :  i-ii  :  33 

no 

6  :  43-49 

196 

10  :  2-9 

112 

6  :  46-49 

30 

10:5 

137 

7  ■  36-50 

30, 

156 

10:7-9 

137 

7:39 

157 

10  :  11-12 

54,  68,  112 

7  '■  40-50 

152 

10  :  13-16 

135 

7:47 

158 

10  :  14-15 

112,  136 

7:48 

158 

10 :  17-31 

138 

7:50 

158 

10  :  18 

35,  36,  46 

9 : 18-27 

30 

10  :  18-19 

112 

9  :  49-50 

30 

10  :  23-24 

139 

9:57 

30 

10  :  23-25 

112 

9  :  62 

30,  153, 

154 

10  :  27 

1X2 

10  :  25-37 

30 

10  :  29-30 

140 

10  :  28-37 

153 

10  :  29-31 

112 

II  :  14-23 

29 

10  :  35-45 

134 

II  :  14-52 

24 

10  :  38-40 

112 

1 1  :  24-26 

30 

10  :  42-45 

54,  70,  112 

II  :  29-30 

40 

II  :  22-23 

55 

II  :  29-32 

29 

II :  24 

55 

11:33-36 

30 

11:25 

55 

II  :44 

97 

II  :  29-30 

40 

12  :  1-12 

29 

12  :  x-44 

III 

12  :  13-21 

30 

12  :  15-17 

112 

12  :  14-21 

153, 

173 

12:  17 

141 

12  :  35-36 

176 

12  :  29-31 

112,  113,  131 

12  :  35-38 

153 

12  :  32-34a 

54 

12  :  35-48 

17s 

12:34 

112 

12  :  35-53 

30 

12  :  38-39 

54,  70 

12:37 

176 

12  :  38-40 

112 

12:38 

176 

12  :  40 

126 

12  :  39-40 

176 

12:43 

126 

12  :  41-43 

176 

12  :  43-44 

112 

12  :44 

176 

12  :44 

126 

12  :45 

176 

13:11 

54,  71 

12  :  46 

177 

13  :  15-16 

55 

12  :  47-48 

154, 

177 

13:21 

55 

12  :  47-50 

153 

13  :32 

34,  36,  46 

12  :  49-50 

154,  174, 

182 

13  :  33-37 

112 

12  :  49-53 

30, 

175 

13  :  34-35 

54,  72 

12  :  54-59 

175 

15:34 

34,  38,  47 

13  :  1-5 

173, 

177 

Luke  6  :  20-26 

196 

13  :  2-5 

153, 

154 

6 : 27-36 

30 

13  :  6-9   30, 

153,  173. 

178 

6  :  27  :  42 

196 

13  :  10-17 

30 

6:31 

196 

13  :  15-16 

153.  154, 

171 

6:35 

247 

13  :  18-21 

30 

6 : 37-42 

196 

13  :  22-30 

30 

INDEX   OF    SCRIPTURE    REFERENCES 


293 


Luke  14  :  1-6 

30 

Luke 

16  :  9 

185 

14:5 

154,  171 

16  :  10 

183,  186 

14:7-11 

30.  153.  178 

16  :  II 

183,  186 

14:  II 

179 

16  :  12 

186 

14 :  12-14 

30.  153. 

16:  13 

186 

154,  172, 173 

16  :  14 

183 

14  :  15-24 

30,  184 

16  :  14-15 

153.  154 

14  :  25-35 

30 

16  :  15 

174 

14  :  28-33 

102,  153, 

16  :  17-19 

174 

174, 180 

16  :  18-21 

174 

14:33 

181 

16  :  19 

183 

15:4 

166 

16  :  19-20 

174 

15:7 

166 

16  : 19-31 

153. 

174,  187 

15  :  8-10 

161 

17  :  3-4 

100 

15  :  8-32 

153.  161 

17  :  7-10 

153. 

174,  182 

15  :  10 

166 

18  :  9-14 

153 

15  :  22 

166 

18  :  31-34 

30 

15  :28 

169 

19  :  9-10 

153.  154 

15:31 

169 

19  :  10 

171 

15:32 

166,  169 

19  :  11-27 

30 

16:1 

183 

21  :  19 

153, 

155,  182 

16  :  1-12 

153 

22  :  35-38 

154 

16  :  1-13 

30,  174 

23  :  24 

153 

16:  1-3 1 

30 

23:34 

155 

16:8 

185 

John 

13  :  1-16 

160 

i6 :  8-13 

184 

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The  History  of  the  Textual  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament 

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bridge Divinity  School. 
Of  Professor  Nash's  "Genesis  of  the  Social  Conscience,"  The  Outlook  said: 
"  The  results  of  Professor  Nash's  ripe  thought  are  presented  in  a  luminous,  com- 
pact, and  often  epigrammatic  style.  The  treatment  is  at  once  masterful  and  help- 
ful, and  the  book  ought  to  be  a  quickening  influence  of  the  highest  kind  ;  it  surely 
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Prof.  Benj.  W.  Bacon,  Professor  of  New  Testament  Interpretation,  Yale 
University. 
Professor  Bacon's  works  in  the  field  of  Old  Testament  criticism  include  "  The 
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mentary sources  of  the  books  of  Moses.  In  the  field  of  New  Testament  study  he 
has  published  a  number  of  brilliant  papers,  the  most  recent  of  which  is  "  The 
Autobiography  of  Jesus,"  in  the  American  Journal  of  Theology. 

The  History  of  New  Testament  Times  in  Palestine 

Prof.  Shailer  Mathews,  Professor  of  New  Testament  History  and  Inter- 
pretation, The  University  of  Chicago. 
The  Congregationalist  says  of  Prof.  Shailer  Mathews's  "  The  Social  Teaching 
of  Jesus" :  "  Re-reading  deepens  the  impression  that  the  author  is  scholarly,  devout, , 
awake  to  all  modern  thought,  and  yet  conservative  and  preeminently  sane.  If, 
after  reading  the  chapters  dealing  with  Jesus'  attitude  toward  man,  society,  the 
family,  the  state,  and  wealth,  the  reader  will  not  agree  with  us  in  this  opinion,  we 
greatly  err  as  prophets."  

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

64-66  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YOEK 


NEW  TESTAMENT  HANDBOOKS -Cbntmued 


The  Teaching  of  Jesus 

Prof.    George    B.     Stevens,    Professor    of    Systematic    Theology,    Yale 
University. 

Professor  Stevens's  volumes  upon  "The  Johannine  Theology,"  "The  Pauline 
Theology,"  as  well  as  his  recent  volume  on  "  The  Theology  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment," have  made  him  probably  the  most  prominent  writer  on  biblical  theology  in 
America.    His  new  volume  will  be  among  the  most  important  of  his  works. 

The  Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Testament 

Prof.  E.  P.  Gould,  Professor  of  New  Testament  Interpretation,  Protestant 
Episcopal  Divinity  School,  Philadelphia. 

Professor  Gould's  Commentaries  on  the  Gospel  of  Mark  (in  the  "  International 
Critical  Commentary")  and  the  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians  (in  the  "American 
Commentary  ")  are  critical  and  exegetical  attempts  to  supply  those  elements  which 
are  lacking  in  existing  works  of  the  same  general  aim  and  scope. 

"  An  excellent  series  of  scholarly,  yet  concise  and  inexpensive  New  Testament 
handbooks." —  Christian  Advocate,  New  York. 

"  These  books  are  remarkably  well  suited  in  language,  style,  and  price,  to  all 
students  of  the  New  Testament." —  The  Congregationalist,  Boston. 


Also  by  Shailer  Mathews 
The  Church  and  the  Changing  Order 

"  A  most  interesting  and  valuable  contribution  to  the  literature  of  a  subject 
that  is  growing  in  popular  attention  every  day.  While  among  the  deeply, 
really  religious  and  genuinely  scientific  there  is  no  conflict  or  antagonism 
where  even  there  is  not  accord,  this  unfortunately  is  not  commonly  the  case 
among  the  masses  who  have  only  caught  the  forms  of  religious  and  scientific 
knowledge  without  their  spirit.  This  book  is  addressed  much  more  it  seems 
to  the  religious  than  the  scientific,  possibly  because  the  latter  have  the  less 
need  for  repentance.  Those  who  are  troubled  in  any  way  at  the  seeming 
conflict  between  the  demands  of  faith,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  experiences 
of  their  own  reason  and  the  problems  of  modern  social  and  industrial  Hfe 
will  find  here  much  sage,  illuminating,  and  practical  counsel."  —  Evening 
Post, 

Clothf  I2m0t  $/.jo  net 

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By  FRANCIS  G.  PEABODY 

Plummer  Professor  of  Christian  Morals  in  Harvard  University 

Jesus  Christ  and  the  Christian  Character 

AN  EXAMINATION  OF  THE  TEA.CHING  OF  JESUS  IN  ITS  RELATION 
TO  SOME  OF  THE  MORAL  PROBLEMS  OF  PERSONAL   LIFE 

"  One  of  the  most  striking  features  of  modern  addresses  and  ser- 
mons is  their  practical  character.  .  .  .  This  is  set  forth  very 
emphatically  in  one  of  the  most  remarkable  books  in  the  religious 
literature  ...  a  study  of  Christian  ethics  which  is  truly  inspiring." 
-Independent.  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^^ 

Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social  Question 

AN  EXAMINATION  OF  THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS  IN  ITS  RELATION 
TO  SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  MODERN  SOCIAL  LIFE 

Cloth,  i2mo,  $i.so 

The  Religion  of  an  Educated  Man 

RELIGION  AS  EDUCATION  —  CHRIST'S  MESSAGE  TO  THE  SCHOLAR 
—  KNOWLEDGE  AND  SERVICE 

Cloth,  j2mo,  $ijOO  net 

The  Approach  to  the  Social  Question 

Cloth,  i2mo,  $1.25  net 

By  the  Rev.  WALTER  RAUSCHENBUSCH 

Professor  of  Church  History  in  Rochester  Theological  Seminary 

Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis 

Cloth,  i2mo,  $1.50  net 

Mr.  Ray  Stannard  Baker  writes  in  the  American  Magazine  : 
"  One  of  the  questions  I  have  asked  most  diligently  as  I  have  gone 
about  among  the  more  progressive  religious  leaders  of  the  country 
is  this : 

"'What  recent  book,  or  what  man,  has  given  you  the  most  light? ' 
"By  all  odds  the  book  most  frequently  mentioned  was  'Christianity 
and  the  Social  Crisis,'  by  Water  Rauschenbusch.  No  recent  reli- 
gious book,  perhaps,  has  had  a  more  favorable  reception  among 
both  church  and  secular  journals,  or  a  wider  reading  among  reli- 
gious leaders,  than  this." 


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MAR    9  1948 


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